Layla's Lament
by SkyeHendersen
Summary: What did Layla Bartek do during her years in the portal before meeting Ford? How did she meet Magum, a demon that later tormented her and Ford? Join Layla on a journey through her life during her years beyond the portal and how she fell in love with Ford. A prequel to "Beyond the Portal", a story focusing on the OC Layla Bartek. Cover image drawn by myself.
1. Childhood

**Chapter 1: Childhood**

Since Layla Amelia Bartek was a little girl, she knew she was different, she knew the life she was living was not part of the norm.

She wasn't allowed outside much, only to play in the yard, with her mother watching her carefully. Every once in a while Layla would try to go a little further into the woods, causing her mother to worry.

"Layla, honey, don't go there!" her mother shouted as Layla wandered to the edge of the woods.

The little girl had her jet black hair in pigtails, tied in blue ribbons. It was cooler out in Oregon, her wearing a navy blue pea coat, black tights, and blue ballet flats. Her electric blue eyes looked out into the woods with longing, she wanted to see other people.

"Mommy… why can't I go there?" Layla asked, her voice small sounding and high pitched. The girl could be no older than three years old.

Her mother pulled her close. "No… the world is terrible… one day Daddy is going to fix it, then you will be able to go out," her mother insisted.

Annabeth Lyle had the same jet black hair as her young daughter, her eyes a dark blue. She had tan looking skin, possibly a mix in her nationality, but it was slowly paling from not being in the sun as much. She wore similar attire to her daughter, except she wore black rain boots and her pea coat was a dark red.

Layla gives a pout. "But, Mommy, I want to play with other kids…" she begs.

"No, sweetie, they are bad people." Annabeth insisted, her voice wavering in panic. "One day Daddy will fix it…" she says again. Her right eye twitches, her smile forced. She then takes her daughter's hand and they go into the small house they had in the woods.

Once inside Layla immediately takes off her coat and gives it to her mother, her taking off her shoes. Layla was wearing a long sleeved blue shirt that had been hidden by her coat. The little girl runs into the kitchen, her stopping by the door that lead downstairs. She was waiting for her father to come up from the basement.

The small girl looks at her left hand, seeing that her thumb and pinky finger was missing. It wasn't totally missing, her thumb and her pinky just weren't fully formed, just being little nubs on her hand.

Symbrachydactyly.

In a way she was lucky, her condition wasn't as bad as it could've been. Layla was a little too smart for her own good, her being cooped up in a house all the time. She had went through her father's medical textbooks and read about her condition, her mother teaching her how to read a few months prior. She may not understand all the words, or how to pronounce them, but seeing the pictures in the textbooks saw how much more her body could've been deformed.

The young Layla stood in front of the door, silently waiting for it to open. Her electric blue eyes were open wide with curiosity. She has never set one foot through that door, but she knew her father, Dr. Bartholomew Bartek, was working hard on his research. The young girl bounces from foot to foot, eager for it to open so she could see her father.

Soon, the door creaked open and a tall man stepped through. The man had pale blonde hair and hazel eyes, his skin pale to almost a stark white. He was wearing a white lab coat, black pants, black dress shoes, a dark blue dress shirt, and a solid black tie. The man muttered something unrecognizable as he had almost stumbled over the young girl.

"Daddy!" the girl cried out joyously, her immediately hugging his pant leg. There was a soft pat to her head. "Did you do good today, Daddy?" the little girl's voice pierced excitedly. She loved it when her father told her some of his research.

The man gives a grim look. "Um, Layla, sweetie, not right now, Daddy is tired…" he mumbled as he brushed her off. He stalked over to the fridge and opened it, it creaking with age. He goes in and takes out a beer bottle and used a bottle opener to pop it open. He takes a long swig of it before disappearing into the living room.

Layla's eyes glanced down to the wooden floor with shame. She felt as if she had done something wrong. Her mother was at the counter, ready to start dinner, and the little girl waddles over and tugs at the woman's pant leg.

"Mommy," Layla whined, her voice getting high pitched, causing the woman to grimace slightly. "Is Daddy mad at me?" Layla then asked.

Annabeth gives her a look of sympathy. "No, sweetheart," she assured warmly. "Daddy just has a lot on his mind right now… he's worried about his work."

Layla gives a pout and rips from her mother's pant leg. The little girl rushes to the living room, her eyes immediately going to her father on the couch. He was drinking his beer and peering over his notes, him giving grunts of annoyance one in a while.

The young girl stands in the doorway, her eyes wide. She observed her father with curiosity. She knew better than to approach him while he had that kind of drink in his hand, there was more than one occasion of her getting a slap to her face for annoying him. He didn't mean it… she knew that, she was just bugging him. Hazel eyes snapped up to her quivering form in the doorway, causing her to flinch and run away.

Layla went back into the kitchen and said in the wooden chair close to the window. Her electric blue gaze looked into the woods, seeing the trees sway gently in the wind. The little girl wanted to go outside and play, but she wasn't allowed. Sometimes she saw strange things while staring out the window… like at that moment she was seeing a tiny bearded man with a tall red hat vomiting rainbows.

"Mommy… a tiny man is outside again…" Layla whined.

"Honey, I told you that I didn't like it when you made up stories," her mother sternly replied.

Suddenly rough footsteps came into the kitchen. The fridge was violently opened and Dr. Bartek took out another beer and slammed it in about two swigs. His face was red with anger and frustration. He honestly looked as if he was going to blow off his top.

"What the hell is she blabbing about!?" he demanded drunkenly to his wife.

Annabeth flinched at the sudden raise and tone of his voice. "Nothing dear," she assured nervously. "She just has an overactive imagination-" She yelps as her face was suddenly grabbed by his left hand, free of the alcohol. "I'm sorry, I will speak with her."

"I assure you that you will, or _I_ will talk to her," the scientist threatened. He the releases her and stalks back into the living room.

Annabeth takes in a startled breath. Her blue gaze goes back to her toddler. "Layla Amelia…" she softly said. "You know you can't make up stories."

"I am not!" Layla defensively cried out.

"Layla, honey, please…" Annabeth begged, her voice sounding tired. "How about we go put you down for a nap…?" She then walks over and picks up the toddler, who struggled to get free. She went through the living room as quietly as she could and went down the western hallway to go to the first door on the left. She then sets the little girl in the bed.

"Mommy, I don't wanna nap!" Layla cried out furiously.

"Well, sweetie, you must." Annabeth sighed. "Daddy is a little upset, so please, just take a little nap."

Layla was forced onto the bed, her mother struggling to keep her in there as she was kicking her legs out everywhere. When blankets were thrown on top of the small girl, she took them off furiously.

"Layla Amelia… please, sweetheart I am begging you…" Annabeth pleaded. "Please just take a little nap… how about I sing you that lullaby you like?"

That made Layla stop thrashing immediately. She loved that song. She never had heard it before her mother, and she could tell her mother made that song just for her. Layla gets under the covers and gives a brilliant smile.

Her mother began to sing, it sounded soft and scared, but her words were clear.

 _"_ _A star that shines as clear as day, made me wish I can go out and play, but remember the night holds a strange magic air, and this warning to you is to be fair._

 _"_ _In the shadows there are people who are not what they seem, they'll want to take you down the deathly black water stream, don't take their hand within yours, or forever you'll be put behind the deathly doors._

 _"_ _A star that shines as clear as day, oh how it made me wish to go out and play, so I took the hand of a shadow that called and beckoned me, and now I feel my soul become free._

 _"_ _However I could not return in the morn, the sun bright as the star as my family mourn, now I become the shadow that uses the star as bright as day, would you like to take my hand and come play?_

 _"_ _A star that shines as bright as day, it made me go out and play, now do you wish to take that risk of the star, and take my hand to go far?_

 _"_ _I promise that I will bring you back home in the morn, that way no one will cry over you and mourn. But am I what I seem, or will I too take you down the deathly black water stream?_

 _"_ _You can trust me as I am your shadow friend, I promise to let you have fun to no end, I promise I won't take you that far, just to the star that is bright as day so we can pay our devoir._

 _"_ _A star that shines as bright as day, how I wish I did not go out to play, for the devil shadow had grasped my hand, the devil shadow pulled my soul and it was at his command._

 _"_ _So heed my warning young soul, please heed it with thole, and do not shake the devil shadow's hand, or forever your young soul shall be damned._

 _"_ _A star that shined as bright as day, now dim with the shadows I have helped taken with the devil shadow's command that are a dark grey, remember how the night holds a strange magic air, and how even something as bright as a star can take you to the devil shadow's lair."_

Layla barely heard the last word of the song as her head tilted to the side and she fell asleep.

* * *

A pale light draped over the young girl's face, her electric blue eyes blinking against the sleep that filled her eyes.

She took far more than a simple nap, she had slept through the entire day and night. Layla gives a yawn and hops out of bed, her small feet hitting the wooden floorboards with a soft thud. Iciness clung to her skin as the air around her was cold, but not from a draft in the walls or a fan.

Something felt wrong.

"Mommy?" she called out, her voice wavering.

There was no reply.

Layla opens the door of her room with a soft creak, her eyes darting around. The hallway was silent, but the iciness lingered there as well. She steps out, her tiny arms wrapped around herself to shield her from this odd cold. The living room was empty when she entered, and so was the kitchen. The girl even went to her parents' room and saw that bed had no signs of life sleeping in it previously.

The little toddler enters the kitchen once again, but then she saw a bright blue light underneath the door that led to the basement. Her heart thudded in her chest, so much she thought it was going to burst. Her small, pale hand reached up at the doorknob and grasped the dull bronze and turned it, hearing the click of it being open.

 _Daddy never leaves it unlocked…_

He opens the door wide, seeing nothing but an inky blackness before her. The top of the stairs looked rickety and old, and it made her think she was in a haunted house. She takes a step forward onto the step, hearing a tiny creak as her weight pressed against the step. When she felt assured it wasn't going to break, she continued going downstairs. At the bottom she saw the blue light again and hid behind a large crate. She peers around it and sees her father shaking hands with what looked like a floating, yellow triangle with a top hat and bow tie with one large eye in the center with a slit pupil.

 _"_ _Pleasure doing business with ya, Barty ol' pal!"_ the triangle cheered gleefully, its voice sounding male and extremely shrill.

"You can just call me 'Dr. Bartek', Bill." Her father's voice… he didn't sound surprised or scared that a floating shape was around. In fact, he had sounded annoyed. "Now, remember our deal-"

 _"_ _Yeah, yeah, I got it,"_ the shrill voice interrupted rudely. _"Now… you want some better ability to do your experiments right? Well… start building that portal and I'll help you right out…"_

Layla was too frightened to stay any longer and she rushes back up the stairs. "Mommy!" she had shouted once she entered the kitchen. "Mommy, where are you!?" Tears brimmed her big, electric blue eyes. The little girl then rushes out the house, thinking that maybe her mother was outside for air.

Once outside the air was chilly and the sky was a dark navy. The small girl huffed and puffed in the early morning as she ran further and further away from the only place she had ever known. Tears stung her eyes as she ran, her tripping over a rock and causing her body to tumble onto the hard rocky, ground, causing her arms to become scrapped and cut. She cried loudly as she scrambled herself up, the lopsided ribbons that held her black hair up coming undone and falling behind her.

Soon she found herself near tall mountains. Her chest ached painfully as she frantically glanced around, seeing nothing familiar. Defeated, she sat down on the ground and put her knees to her chest, her sobbing loudly that she was lost, her black hair pasting to her tear streaked face and matted on her head form sweat.

Owls hooted as she sat there and cried, trembling from being alone. She has never wandered this far from her home before, usually her mother would've escorted her back to the yard. When she heard a growl from a nearby bush Layla jumps up and starts running again, fear filling her veins. She kept running, not daring to look back, her breaths coming in wheezing pants. A scream rips from her throat as she tripped over something, her arms and face scraping against the dirt and stones.

Layla lets out a cry of pain as she sat up wincing from the pain from her face. She slowly puts a hand to her left cheek, feeling something wet. The smell of something rusty hits her nostrils, and when she removed her hand from her face she sat her blood illuminated palely from the dim light of the moon before dawn. Layla looks behind her to see what she tripped over, and a piercing scream of horror fills the early morning air, her throat going raw.

What she had tripped over was her mother's dead body.

Annabeth's body was tossed in the road like a ragdoll. Her black hair was ripped from various areas and her blue eyes looked like a pale gray from lack of life. Her pale skin was a sickly gray color, looking cold and stony. But those were just the least graphic of what the three-year-old saw…

The woman's limbs looked as if they were torn from her body, like some rabid animal decided to maliciously torture her. Her left arm was ripped from its socket, bones splintered and jagged. The right arm was torn from the bend of the elbow, the skin on the edges shredded with the humerus sticking out. The legs were nonexistent, as if something dragged off with it.

Layla screams loudly, her small voice piercing through the air. She screamed until her face turned red, until what seemed like all the oxygen left her body, her vision blurring in the edges. Something then covers her mouth and a strange, tired sensation came over her. With a snuffled groan, she passed out.

* * *

Layla blinks open her eyes, them darting around frantically, wondering where she was.

She was back in her bedroom, the purple blankets covering her. The sunlight was beaming into the room through her purple curtains, casting the room in a violet shadow. She sits up and notices she was in her pink flannel pajamas. Confusion enveloped her as she got out of her bed, slowly walking towards her door. Hesitantly, her hand hovered over the doorknob, the toddler shaking from her nightmare.

But was it a nightmare?

She opens the door and standing in the doorway was her father.

"Daddy?" Layla cries out. She lunges to his leg and desperately hugs it. "I had a scary dream… Mommy was – where's Mommy!?"

Her father had a blank look on his face, as if he didn't register what she had asked. He lowers himself down to her level.

"Mommy left," he says simply, as if it sounded practiced. Of course, as smart as the three year old girl was she didn't understand that. "She got too frustrated with you and she left."

Layla remembered the night before. She wasn't listening to her mother. The girl was talking about the weird things in the woods like unicorns and gnomes all the time. She wasn't obeying orders when she was told to go to bed.

"Did… did Mommy hate me?" Layla cried, tears falling down her pale cheeks. Her cheek stung, the saltiness from her tears stinging a cut she doesn't remember receiving.

Dr. Bartek gives a grim look. "What do you think?" he asks calmly.

Layla once again remembered the night before. "She hated me…" she sobbed as she threw herself on the floor, feeling her body tremble.

"Then that's how it is," Dr. Bartek sighed as he stood up. He then extended his hand. "Come along dear, I need to run some tests for you."

Layla knew what it meant. Injections in her hand, or many blood draws. Sometimes a skin sample. She took her father's hand with her left, feeling his much larger one enclose around hers.

"You may be seeing a friend of mine, so you must behave," her father sternly told her.

Layla nods frantically. She didn't want him to leave her like her mother did. "Yes, Daddy," she promises.

The two walked down the hall and through the living room to get to the kitchen. The door that led to the basement was wide open, something the toddler has never really seen. Her small feet went down the stairs along with her father, her heartbeat increasing as she descended into darkness.

But what she didn't know, and wouldn't know for years to come, that it was the beginning of the worst years of her life.

* * *

 **A/N:** So... a story about Layla Bartek specifically. Obviously as she gets older it's going to get darker.

I'm sorry this took a bit to write and get started, I had this idea since writing "Beyond the Portal" in its early chapters, but with everything that has been going on it has been tough to get into writing.

This story will be fully completed before "After Cipher's Reign: Short Stories" becomes completed, as it helps tie into the final short story that will lead up to another completely new story altogether.

Thank you for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~


	2. Young Adolescence

**Chapter 2: Young Adolescence**

A pair of scissors was snipping horizontally across a cascade of black hair, the pieces falling to floor like feathers from a bird, the sounds of the blades crossing filling the small room.

Layla stared at the mirror with hard electric blue eyes, almost looking like pieces of chipped ice. The young girl was now thirteen, ten years since her mother had disappeared. She sets down the pair of scissors with a soft clank as the metal hit the countertop. Layla looks at her handiwork, her once extremely long hair was now shoulder length, it looking feathered around the frame of her face.

Over the course of the years her hair continued to grow and grow, her father never once bothering to cut it. It was the final straw to her when she broke yet another brush trying to get through over five feet of hair. So, she decide to cut it off, although she felt a pang in her heart that her mother would've been disappointed.

 _You're such a pretty little girl, Layla Amelia, your long hair is so lovely!_

Layla shakes her head at the small memory of her mother. It didn't matter now, the woman wasn't around. She raises her left hand, seeing how her thumb and pinky were just nubs compared to the rest of her fully formed appendages. The raven-haired adolescent sighs as she cleans up the hair in the small bathroom that was attached to her bedroom, her throwing the black strands into the trash bin without a second thought.

Once she was done she leaves her bathroom and was once again in her bedroom. Her bedroom had changed very little over the years as her father rarely left the house; it was a wonder there was even food on the premises with how little he left. She had the same twin bed she has had since a toddler, a few of her baby blankets folded neatly at the end and the only source of a comforter was a thick quilt that she had made out of her baby and toddler clothes.

Rarely did she ever see her father leave the basement, she rather not ask questions. In her mind she held onto the thought that her father was looking for a way to help people. Sometimes she saw a random person enter the home, but she never saw them leave. She sometimes wonders what had happened to them, but she ends up putting it on the back burner of her mind.

Layla goes to her closet and grabs a long, solid black cloak and puts it around her. She puts the hood over her head, only showing her extremely pale skin. In a way she looked like she was a ghost, a wandering spirit.

The young girl pokes her head out of her room, seeing if she could get a glance of her father. When he wasn't in sight be headed straight to the door that led out of their home. As she opened the door she once looked around to make sure her father wasn't around as he would be furious if she was leaving the house. Swiftly she leaves and gently shuts the door behind her with a soft click, her holding the cloak tight around her.

A light mist of rain was outside, the sky a cloudy, dull grey. Her brown boots crunched against the damp rocks as she ran down a makeshift path into the woods. During these days that she could get away, she enjoyed being in the woods as she saw many strange things that was in Gravity Falls, Oregon.

Layla always saw gnomes running around, them climbing on each other to get to higher heights. Sometimes she saw what looked like a bear with more than one head, or an extremely large man-bull looking thing that ended up punching large boulders all the time. But what she really enjoyed about the oddness of Gravity Falls was its occupants.

She heads into the small, sleepy town, the rain keeping most people inside. Her brown boots clapped against the wet pavement of the sidewalks of town, her seeing the shops that were filled with various items. Of course the girl never had money, so she never entered the stores, and even when she did she was given extremely odd looks. She would rather just not be noticed. She ducks into an alleyway for a moment to warm herself up, as the cold air started ripping through the town.

"Hey there, little girl, what are you doing here?" a voice drawled from behind.

Layla flinched, her feeling suddenly uncomfortable. She glances behind her and someone had opened the back door to one of the shops and was taking out trash. The person was a fairly large man with a large pot belly, him wearing a simple white t-shirt and black pants with black shoes. He had a large bag of trash in his hand as he gave Layla a quizzical look.

"Look, girly, if you're thinking about setting garbage on fire I'm calling the police and his your parents!" he threatened.

Without a sound Layla ran out of the alleyway, her feeling chilled to the bone as the icy air ripped through her skin. The way the cloak flowed behind her it looked as if she was flying away. The man that had tried to talk to her had dropped the trash silently and ran back inside with a squeal of fear, saying something about a ghost.

Layla continued running, her boots smacking against the wet pavement, the collected water from puddles splashing up on to her legs, soaking her leggings. She enters the woods, feelings the wet branches whip at her face, her feeling the stings as they cut into her fair skin. After running for what seemed like hours, she had found herself toward an extremely large building. The building was surrounded by black metal gates, the entrance with large golden letters of "NW".

Confused, she gets closer to the black gates. Her hands go to reach out to the black iron when a sharp voice snipped at her, "Excuse me, but what is a peasant like you doing on my family's property!?" Layla flinches back when she suddenly saw a golden blonde teenager in front of her, probably a year or two older than her, with a large black umbrella shielding him from the rain. He then gives her a glance over, but just barely. "Really? Come now, are you stupid or something? How dare you come to Northwest Manor and even _try_ to touch our gates!? These gates are worth more than your home!"

"I-I'm sorry…" Layla stammered, her voice hoarse from lack of speaking, "I-I-I'll leave now…"

The boy then looked taken back. "Oh…" he whispers. "Well… um, just make sure it doesn't happen again!" he then huffs as he turns his back away from her and proceeds to walk toward the large manor, the rain dripping from the edges of the umbrella.

Layla didn't know who it was, and frankly she did not care. She ran back into the woods, her breath wheezing from the chilled and damp air. She finally stops in an open grove and collapses, getting thick mud all over her cloak and dark clothes. Rain pelted her face as she looked to the open, nearly black sky. Her heart was slowing to her normal heartrate when she heard a slight buzzing.

She whips her head around, trying to find the source of the noise. The flutter of wings caught her attention, but it wasn't only that… there was a trail of sparkles as well. As her gaze followed the trail she saw small flying object. It landed by Layla and it gave a little wave, it looking like a person that had pointed ears and their skin and clothes was a dark magenta in color.

Layla jumps back, panicking at the sight of the small creature. Was it a fairy or a pixie? Those things are only supposed to exist in fairytales! Vague memories return to her from being an extremely small child and seeing such things… but her family never believed her.

Or did her father know?

The small creature flies over to Layla's nose, it leaning on the nose and staring into the girl's eyes. The small creature gave a quizzical look.

 _"_ _You seem very nice…"_ it said in a high sing-song voice. _"But you seem sad and closed off… you need to open your heart more."_

Before Layla could say anything and question what the small thing had said, it flew off, a trail of sparkling dust trailing behind her. Layla stands up, but heard a small thump of something hitting the wet, earthy floor. A gleam of dark purple catches her eye and she bends down to pick it up. In her hand was a small, shimmering stone that was a deep, regal purple in the shape of an oak leaf.

"Open my heart more…?" Layla questioned aloud. To her that made no sense. Who was she supposed to open up to, her father? No, he'd yell at her that this was nonsense and that he was disturbing him of his real work.

Thunder rolled overhead and lightning flashed, making Layla flinch. She decides to head home, her starting to shiver from the cold. After an hour or two of walking she made her way to the small wooden cabin that was her home, it looking dreary in the grey landscape. She enters the cabin and starts heading to her room, but as she walked in the hallway towards her room she passed a tiny, empty room.

Or it used to be empty.

She stops as she had reached her door and runs back to the tiny room that she had remembered vaguely as her mother's sewing room. Inside the room was a young teenager, just about her age or a little bit older, with a hair color that looked blue-grey and was sticking up in various places. He was unpacking a suitcase that was laying on a small cot of a bed and placing the messily folded clothes by the pillow.

"Who the hell are you!?" Layla screamed loudly, her feeling panicked, the water from the rain dripping off of her and onto the wooden floor. She had tracked mud in the house, and she had planned on cleaning it up before her father had noticed.

The boy looked up, confusion on his face. "Um… Rick…" he muttered. "My question is, who are you?"

"Layla Bartek!" she screeched, her face turning red.

"Oh, you're Dr. Bartek's daughter…" Rick mused, a slight smile on his face. "I suggest you run, because he was looking for you and he seemed pissed."

Dread filled Layla's heart and ice filled her veins. She could feel her body froze and her eyes widen.

"Tic toc, girly," Rick chimed as he continued unpacking.

Before Layla could even try to move towards her room her arm was yanked and there was a loud _pop!_ sound. She screamed in pain as she felt as if she was being dragged, seeing her vision blur with pain. Layla noticed that Rick had poked his head out of the room and had a look of worry on his face.

Layla felt the tile floor underneath her as she dragged through the kitchen. She screamed and yelped to be let go but there was no response. Layla was starting to feel a tingling in her arm, but what was more intense was the fiery pain that engulfed her shoulder. She heard a door open and suddenly she was being dragged down the basement stairs, her body bouncing up and down, bruising the back of her legs and her buttocks.

Finally she was thrown onto the pavement of the basement floor, her vision starting to black in the corners when something pricked her neck. She vaguely saw something yellow and heard a cackle of a laugh. Layla tried to call for her father, but it seemed she couldn't speak, as if she was drugged. The young teenager tried to stand up, but her legs felt like jelly as she tried to move forward. She saw that there was a chair in front of her, a wooden one sitting in a bucket that seemed to be filled with something metallic. In the chair sat a man that looked a lot like the one that had seen her in town.

"Is this the 'ghost' you saw?" Layla heard her father demand angrily, her just barely seeing him gesture towards her.

"Please let me go!" the man pleaded. "If that's your kid I won't say anything, honest!" There was a glint of silver and suddenly a bright scarlet poured to the floor, a hand dropping with fingers twitching. The man screamed in agony and Layla collapsed to the floor, fully feeling the effects of whatever was injected into her. "You're that insane doctor from the Midwest!" the man wailed as tears dripped from his cheeks, mixing with the blood that had splattered.

"I may be that," Dr. Bartek admitted. "But right now I have other experiments to attend to." He had then grabbed a syringe that was filled with bright blue liquid, and he injected it into the man's neck. The man began jittering uncontrollably and shaking as he tried to rip from his restraints. Something grey was crawling underneath the skin of the man's body, it spider-webbing across his features as he began foaming in the mouth. "Oh… it looks as though an ice demon's blood has some negative effects, Cipher…"

 _"_ _Well, that's why we do this, Barty!"_ Layla heard a shrill voice reply. _"Now you can throw him in the portal to test it out!"_

 _Cipher…?_ _Portal…?_ Layla thought to herself as she finally blacked out, the last thing she saw the thick, blood slowly making its way towards her.

* * *

With a start she bolted up from her bed, her frantically looking around.

She was back in her room, pajamas on her and wrapped in the thick comforter that she had made. Layla gets out of bed, her body feeling sore and she noticed how her legs and shoulder were wrapped in bandages. She goes to open the door but the knob twisted open and her father entered.

"Layla Amelia…" he whispered, his voice filled with deep concern. "Why did you leave the house…?" he asked gently.

"Leave the house…?" Layla mumbled, her brain fuzzy in memory.

"Sweetie… you went for a walk and when I went to go find you I was too late…" her father explained. "A strange man was hurting you… he must've hit your head and that's why you're having a hard time remembering…"

Layla took a step back, a hand to her head. "I… I don't understand…" she choked out.

"Layla… this is why you don't leave the house… you're going to get hurt…"

The girl then remembered seeing another teenager in the house. "Who is that kid that's here!?" she then demands, the memory of him unpacking fluttering in her mind.

Dr. Bartek gives a sigh. "He's the son of an old colleague of mine, his name is Rick Sanchez and he's going to be assisting me for a little bit." He then walks up to Layla and gives her a genuine warm hug. "Don't worry about that right now, Layla Amelia, you're safe. Now come, we have a little lab work to do for you and give you some medicine for your hand."

Layla then follows her father into the living room where she knew she was going to be poked with needles for an hour or two. But she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, something was not what it seemed.

 _In the shadows there are people who are not what they seem, they'll want to take you down the deathly black water stream, don't take their hand within yours, or forever you'll be put behind the deathly doors._

Those lyrics sang in her mind that her mother once sang to her, and she was starting to think that maybe it wasn't a song at all…

But a warning for things to come.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry this took a long time, but with everything that has been going on since my mother had passed away I just haven't had tome to write. I'll post when I can though.

Thank you fro reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~


	3. Adolescence

**Chapter 3: Adolescence**

October 20th rolled around on the calendar of 1966, Layla's sixteenth birthday.

Of course like every year on her birthday nothing really happened, it was just a normal day. There never was any presents or cakes, no celebration at all. But then again, she never knew that's what birthdays were about as she had never had hers celebrated.

So she sat on her bed with a book in her hand, the stray strands of black hair obscuring part of her face. In her hands was one of her father's engineering books, something that she taught herself over the years to comprehend and even replicate certain experiments. Despite that her father speaks to her in a condescending way and treating her as if though she was mentally incompetent, Layla was quite intelligent for her age.

Rick would sometimes bring her some of his notes on his math and equations because he knew that she would proof read it to make sure they were correct. The boy would even bring Layla books from the next town over that were quite advanced so that she could read something different. In a way he was like a brother to her… a very perverted brother as sometimes she caught him being a peaking tom on her, but he didn't treat her as if she was just another object collecting dust in the house.

There was a knock on the door and Layla got up to answer it seeing that Rick was in the doorway. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest. "What, Rick?" she groaned.

He then proceeded to hand her an envelope. "Um… I literally just found out that today is your birthday… over the last few years it was never mentioned so I didn't know…" he told her as he looked concerned. "So, while Bartek and I were in the other town I got ya a card since it's your sixteenth birthday… those are kind of a big deal, ya know?"

Layla takes the card in her hands, looking confused. "A big deal…?" she echoed as she opened the card. The card wasn't anything special, it just had the simple message of "Happy Birthday" and that it was signed by Rick. "I've never gotten a card before…" she admits.

Rick raises his unibrow in confusion. "Whoa, wait a minute…" he muttered as he put his hands up in the universal "stop" motion. "You've never gotten a card? Or a cake? Presents?" he then asks in disbelief. Layla shook her head. "Oh, that's just bullshit! Are you seriously telling me that you have never once celebrated your birthday?"

"You celebrate it…?" Layla asks questionably. She looks at the card again, a feeling of sadness and emptiness filling her heart. "I… I was told I should be happy that I was born..."

Rick then grabs Layla's hand and drags her out of the room. "Look, Bartek is doing something in the lab, so he's probably gonna be held up for the next day or so," he explains as he goes into his room and grabs a jacket and a pair of boots. "So, let's go into town, get you a real present, come back and call it a day."

"Present…?"

"Yeah, it's a gift. Like… um…" Rick tried to explain but trailed off as he tried to think of how to explain it to her. "It's like saying, 'Congrats on getting older' type of spiel and just being a decent ass person." He finishes zipping up a black jacket. "Go get your stuff so we can go."

Layla gives a shrug. "Okay," she simply replies as she goes into her room and grabs herself a black cloak and her boots. She really wasn't allowed to leave the house unless it was to gather things from the garden, but she figured if Rick was with her then her father wouldn't be as mad. Once she was dressed she meets Rick by the front door and he opens it for her. "Thank you…" she says very softly, as if just being outside was silencing her vocal cords.

The leaves in the woods were changing into bright reds, oranges, and yellows, gently falling from the branches as the air got chillier. Massive oak tress still had green leaves from the deeper layers, but just like the leaves on the surface they were starting to change. The only trees that remained the same were the few pine trees that were around.

Both Layla and Rick walked through the woods to get to the town of Gravity Falls. Once in a while Layla would see the supernatural creatures of the woods. Rick for the most part ignored them as he thought they were annoying and stupid. As the got closer into town Layla could feel her chest tighten in fear and panic.

"Um…" she murmured as she suddenly stopped. "Maybe… maybe you should go on ahead…"

Rick stops as well and looks behind to see her. Immediately he goes up to her, concern on his features. "Are you okay…?" he asks. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Fuzzy memories bubble up in Layla's mind, but soon her temples began to throb and she let them go. "Sorry… I was just remembering the last time I left home…" she apologizes.

Rick puts a hand up to his head as well, feeling a headache develop. "Yeah… I don't really remember much from that night… I was jet lagged I guess…" he slowly said, his face scrunched up as if though he was second guessing his memory. "But come on, we should hurry."

They both entered town, Layla putting the hood of her cloak over her head. Rick walked as though he had no care in the world, he had come into town a couple of times on his own so he knew where to go. The place that he took Layla to was a book store, one that had recently opened in Gravity Falls. The bell chimes as they enter, Layla flinching from the sound.

"You need to act normal…" Rick hissed at her. "Make it look like you do this sort of thing every day."

Layla takes a deep breath and gives a firm nod. She then lowers her hood, revealing her black hair. Rick then gestures for her to go look around and she complies, her eyes and hands going over many different books. Naturally she went towards the science sections, advanced math, and even history. But as she went to go to that section, a different genre caught her eye.

She looks both ways and sees that Rick was looking at books that were about gun design before going into her desired section. The section she was in was the romance section, her looking at the covers of books the depicted attractive men and women alike. After seeing some of the women she felt suddenly inadequate, causing her to frown. She then chooses a random book that had the least amount of exposure on the cover, a simple beach scene, and flips to a random page.

Immediately her face turns crimson when she was reading the extreme amount of detail of a sexual encounter, but she couldn't stop reading it. She reads the pages and flips to the next, seeing how the scene was playing out. Layla obviously knew what sex was, she read all the science books on how it works, how all the genitals work, conception and fetal development, but this… this was almost _animalistic_ , and that seemed like it was the most accurate way to describe it than the medical books' way.

"Reading some porn there, Layla?" Rick's amused voice suddenly says behind her, his voice sounding booming despite it being a whisper in the silent bookstore. Layla squeals loudly as she threw the book in the air and covered her face. Rick catches the book midair and finds the pages she was reading, easily founded from the deep indents of her fingers gripping the book. "Oh, it's a romance novel. Yuck." Rick groaned as he shut it and gave it back to Layla. He notices that she was still extremely red and she had her cloak over her head again. "You… you never read something like that have you? Do you even know what-"

"I KNOW WHAT SEX IS!" Layla screams at Rick, causing him to wince and a few passerby's attention. She covers her mouth, her face turning pink with embarrassment.

Rick rolls his eyes with a sigh. "Look, reading these sort of things is normal for people our age," he explains as he lowers Layla's hood. "I do it all the time, and it's normal to want to imagine yourself in those kind of situations." He then gives a shrug. "It's all normal."

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't know what 'normal' is," Layla hissed to him icily, her eyes hard.

Rick then takes her hood and pulls it over her face. "Yeah, well, no one truly knows what 'normal' is," he mutters as he then takes the book from her once again.

She shouts at his sudden aggression of taking her book, "Hey!"

"Look, pick another book, I'll get you this and whatever else…" Rick nonchalantly says as he proceeded to walk by the counter. "And hurry up, Layla."

The girl the turns on her heel and heads to the science book section. She ended up picking a second book that was about dark matter, something that even Rick was just barely starting to know. The two companions left the store after the items were purchased, Rick getting his books about gun design.

"Why'd you get that kind of book?" Layla questions, the hood of her cloak over her head as rain began to fall.

Rick snaps at her, "It's none of your business!" He notices her flinch and instantly softens his tone. "Sorry, I'm a little defensive on that… it's for personal reasons."

Thunder rolled overhead as Layla glances away. She shivered involuntarily, but it wasn't from the cold. The two made their way back to the thickest part of the woods by the mountains, the rain beginning to pour and flood the dirt paths. Thick mud splattered up on Layla's boots, causing her to grimace as she did not want to track mud into the house.

Soon the two made it back to the house, Rick opening the door as quietly as he could. He leads the way into the home and they took off their boots at the front door. Layla picked hers up and started tiptoeing towards her room, expertly avoiding the squeaky floorboards. As she reached her door, she does a small sigh of relief. She opens the door to her room and suddenly sees her father there, glowering down at her.

Her heart falls to the pit of her stomach and she tries to back away.

"Dad, I-" she tried to say but was suddenly grabbed by the collar of her cloak.

"What have I said a-a-a-about leaving th-this house!?" Dr. Bartek demanded, his breath laced with alcohol and his words heavily slurred. Layla was trying to struggle out of his grip, but he kept a firm hold on her, causing her to squeak with fear.

Rick finally steps in, yanking Layla away from Dr. Bartek. "Hey, Bartek, what the hell is wrong with you!?" he demands, his face scrunched up from the heavy smell of alcohol hitting his nostrils. "You can't just do that to your kid! Today is her birthday so I took her to town-"

"To town!?" Dr. Bartek screamed angrily, his face a deep crimson. He makes a grab for Rick, but Rick dodges his grasp. "You took her into town?!"

Rick had his hands into fists as his sides. "Yeah, I did. You have been an ass-hat ever since you made contact with that Mag-"

A sharp slap to the face was made Rick cut off, causing Layla to flinch from the sound.

"Wow… if I wanted that I would've stayed at home," Rick lowly growled, glaring hard at Dr. Bartek. He then turns away from Dr. Bartek and starts walking to where his room was, him passing Layla and giving her a sympathetic stare.

Layla follows Rick as fast as she could so that her father wouldn't try to grab her again. She follows him to his room as he whips out his suitcase from underneath his bed. Rick proceeds to then toss whatever was near him into the suitcase, him cussing under his breath.

"What… what are you doing?" Layla stammered as she saw him packing.

Rick throws a crumpled up shirt into the luggage, his face red. "What does it look like!? I'm _leaving!_ I'm sick of Bartek's bullshit, and honestly you should probably get out too."

Layla gives him a confused look. "Get out…?" she echoes.

"Yeah, Bartek is messing with some dangerous shit, and he's been making deals where he shouldn't be. One of them involved you, and personally I don't like it."

"But I can't leave…" Layla sadly explains. "This is my home… he's my dad… I wouldn't have a place to go…"

"Living in a cave with a bear is better than Bartek!" Rick screams, him slamming the suitcase shut with his items. "You're delusional, Layla, you're trying to see the good in him when _there isn't_."

"But-"

"Fine, sit here and be used and shit!" Rick finally snaps. "I tried to help you, you won't listen. When you're left for dead by your father, I don't want to hear you cry about it! I'm done here. Have a decent rest of your birthday." He then picks up his suitcase and storms out of the room, leaving Layla alone with tears threatening to fall.

* * *

Later that night Layla was sleeping soundly in her bed, her thick makeshift blankets wrapped around her body.

Suddenly she felt shaken and her eyes blinked open, seeing her father's face close to hers. She suddenly felt frightened, thinking she was going to be punished, but he looked extremely panicked and scared.

"Layla, we need to leave," her father urgently whispered. "Now."

Layla sits up, finally seeing that her room was being filled with red lights. She was confused as she got up from her bed and makes a grab for her cloak.

"We don't have time, Layla!" Dr. Bartek shouted sternly at her as he grabbed her wrist and jerks her towards the door.

He dragged her down the hallway of the small house and makes his way to the kitchen. She sees the basement door and in chest tightens. She remembered some cackling… a lot of blood… but was that real or a nightmare? Layla was forced through the basement doors and she almost lost her footing down the stairs as she was being pulled. Finally Bartek forces her to sit in an odd chair in the center of the room.

"Dad… what's going on!?" she demands as Bartek locked her hands and ankles to the chair. She sees that there was bucket of some kind of metallic liquid. Layla then felt something hit the top of her head. She glances up…

A freshly mangled face greeted her, blood slowly dripping from lacerations.

Layla screams loudly, only for a hand to cover her mouth.

"SHUT UP!" Bartek furiously screams, his face red with anger. "NOW SIT STILL, DAMN IT!" He picks up some kind of syringe with blue liquid only for him to toss it aside. He fiddles around and grabs what looks like a helmet and places it on Layla's head.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Layla screams tearfully at her father, trying to move her head out of the helmet.

A hard slap across her face. "You will shut up, right now!" Bartek growls, his tone sounding almost animalistic. He straps the helmet on and flips a switch.

Before Layla could ask what the machine was a sharp pain erupted from her temple. She felt blood pouring from the wound and she begins screaming at a sudden burning sensation in her head. The burning went from the side to the back in an instant, pulsating with her pounding heart. She wanted nothing but the pain to stop as it felt like the burning was becoming much more intense as if were fire with every second. Her head felt much heavier, and her body begins to feel numb from pain, her feeling the blood drip down her cheeks like scarlet tears.

The process finally ended and Layla barely had time to gasp and cry when she was suddenly yanked from the chair and dragged to a different part of the basement. She felt her blood drip from her head, leading a trail onto the concrete floor. All around her she saw crumpled up bodies and glass jars filled with limbs of various kinds, her eyes widening at the sight.

Bartek went into a desk that was by a door and grabbed a key, him unlocking it and throwing it absently back into the desk. He enters through the door, which was some form of elevator, and he forces Layla into it as well.

"What… why… what is happening…!?" Layla groggily cried out, her putting a hand to her head to only feel wetness from her blood.

Her father says nothing as the elevator descended. Once the doors opened up when they had reached the bottom he tosses Layla out, her falling to the floor. He presses a button and the elevator goes up, him walking pass Layla and getting to some kind of control panel.

Layla groans as she glances up, seeing an enormous, triangle-shaped machine in front of her, it stating to glow blue as electricity crackled. As the machine whirred and glowed, she slowly stands up.

"What… what the hell is this...?" she whispers mainly to herself. A rush of thoughts filled her pulsating head. Was this the reason why Rick was living with them? Her body was then yanked around and she saw her father with some kind of small chip in his hands. A sudden pain that was almost unbearable was in her head as she felt the wound that was given to her from the helmet was stretched open and she felt something being inserted. "STOP IT!" she cries loudly, tears mixing with the blood that had dripped onto her face. Another fiery pain engulfs her head as she felt her head get heavier.

"Whatever you do, Layla," her father calmly says to her as he forces her to look at him. "Don't stop running and don't get caught."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" Layla screams at him, fury finally erupting from her.

Bartek gives her a hard glare before pushing her towards the machine. She didn't crash into the ground, instead she felt her body levitate. Her heart fell to the pit of her stomach as the suddenly gravitational pull pulls her into the machine, her feeling like her body was being ripped apart in various directions. She screams loudly, only for the sound to be drowned out from the sound of the machine.

Just as fast that she was pulled in she was spit out in a completely different world, her crashing into a wall and sliding down, her blood staining. She cries and whimpers in pain as her blurred vision began to focus in her new surroundings. Her electric blue eyes widen when she sees a dark red skies and beings that looked straight out of a horror movie walking around.

Layla scrambles herself to stand up, her back to the wall as she sees the monsters look at her. She whimpers as one approaches her, it putting some clawed hand towards her face. Layla ducks out of the way and begins running, her body feeling extremely heavy and she ached all over, her feet stumbling beneath her.

 _Don't stop running and don't get caught._

Her father's words echoed in her mind as she ran, going as far as her legs could carry her before she finally collapsed near a cliff side. Her breaths were in rushed gasps, her struggling to calm her breathing and pounding heart. Layla looks over the side to see perilous black waters that almost seemed welcoming. She then lays on her back, seeing the red skies slowly turn into a dark purple in color, her eyes feeling heavy.

"Help…" she hoarsely called out, her barely even able to hear herself. "Help me…" she sighs as she felt her eyes closed and darkness welcomed her.

Now began her true journey beyond the portal…

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry this took so long everyone! There was so much going on after everything, so I barely had time to work on this!

There is probably going to be two or three more chapters of this, being extremely wrong as we are going to find out the full story of her and Magum's relationship.

Thank you for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~


	4. Meeting Magum

**Chapter 4: Meeting Magum**

Her first year was a tough one, her trying to find her father and trying to make sure that she was safe.

Finding edible food was the hardest thing at first, she couldn't decide what was good or bad, so she swallowed her pride and ate whatever she could. She had slept mainly in alleyways until one day she had stumbled a secret alcove that she could tell her father had created., finding old blankets and pillows for her to sleep comfortably on.

But one thing that she always saw all around her were symbols of a triangle with a single eye in the center.

Layla's mind had ached terribly at the sight of those, as if she had seen them before. A cackle always echoed in the back of her mind, a sarcastic yet sadistic laugh.

As she saw the symbols during the course of the year, she saw another one. It was a symbol of what looked like a silhouette of a head with large branches coming from the head, almost looking similar to a representation of the Devil. For some reason it almost felt familiar to Layla as well.

One night as she passed by an alleyway she once again saw the devilish symbol on the walls, but she saw something written in some kind of code beneath it. Over the course of the year she picked up the various language of her surroundings, even picking up a few books so she could learn how to read and write. She had read that they were odd codes, and after racking her brain she discovered it was a simple Caesar Cipher and she cracked it within a few minutes. Layla read the message, discovering that it was a meeting to join something that was against Bill Cipher.

"Bill… Cipher…?" she echoed to herself. The name sounded so familiar yet it didn't at the same time. Once she deciphered it she discovered it was at a local bar-type of area. Of course she was under-aged, she was seventeen years old, but then again… this was a different dimension.

Layla finds the area within a few hours, her pulling scraps of a blanket close to her to cover herself from odd stares. Inside there were many different creatures, from insect-looking beings, to large snakes that spoke in a hissy tongue, and even humanoid looking persons with brightly colored skins. She automatically felt discouraged, her looking so extremely different, but she pushed herself through the crowd, her bumping to the patrons.

Apparently she was at an important meeting as the leader of the group was there. He looked tall and poised, him having a pale complexion with soulless white eyes, but he had smile on his face as he explained his plans. He spoke fast and eloquently, as if he knew just what to say and what the patrons wanted to hear. He mostly spoke in a various amount of languages, trying to catch the ears of those who listened.

Layla felt entranced by his words, although she didn't understand fully. She figured this Bill Cipher was a bad character, the name had left a foul taste in her mouth from when she spoke it earlier, and if these people were _against_ him…

 _They can help me find my dad and help us home…!_

That awful memory flashed in her mind, the pain that left a large scar underneath her jet black hair on the left side of her temple. She shakes her head, trying not to think about it.

Everything settled down just as fast as it picked up, the meeting being adjourned. Layla looked around, clutching her makeshift cloak around her as the patrons bumped into her rudely. She felt awkward standing there, but she had no other place to go, she wanted to figure out how to join this group.

"My, you're a human aren't you?" a silky sounding voice erupted from her right side, causing her to jump from the sudden sound. "Ah, and a jumpy one at that." She gets a good look at him and it was the same man (was he a man? She couldn't tell really) that was giving his speech.

Layla shakily replied, "Y-yes, I am human…" She clutched her cloak tighter, making her already pale hands becoming stark white at the knuckles from gripping so tightly.

There was a soft chuckle, "Ah, there aren't many female humans in this part of the multiverse." He then offers his left hand. "My name is Magum, Magum Cerebrum. I know it is human culture to shake hands."

Layla looks at his extended hand, it in a black glove. It _looked_ human enough… She grasps it with her left hand, showing her symbrachydactlyly. "Layla Bartek…" she softly says her name as she shook his hand.

"Layla…?" Magum commented. "That sounds pretty… just like your eyes."

Layla arches a brow. "Pardon?" she asks, not fully understanding.

"Do you not know what a compliment is?" Magum laughs, showing a large, almost wolf-like smile. The girl shrugs. "Oh… that's sad…"

"I guess," Layla deadpanned, her particularly not caring.

Magum then gestures to outside with a hand, escorting Layla out of the establishment. They were outside in the chilly air when he asked her, "Did you understand what I was saying in there?"

"Somewhat," she replies honestly. "You mentioned about summoning… a wheel…? An axolotl… that's a salamander so I have _no_ idea what that is supposed to mean."

Magum gives a large smile. "My! You are very keen and intelligent aren't you?" he exclaims happily. "I need that kind of thing in this group… you seem like a girl that can pick things up quickly." Once again Layla shrugs. "Oh, come on now, Layla, I can tell you are lost… are you trying to find someone?"

She softly replies, "My father… I just want to go home."

Magum gives her sad look, which was hard to accomplish with his soulless eyes, but he managed. "Unfortunately, Earth is not easily accessible… you'd need a large interdimensional portal-"

Layla's head aches terribly as a sharp pain rushed through her. She nearly faints to the ground if Magum hadn't caught her. Visions of her past engulf her. Blue electrical lights flashing, the metal going into her head, the sensation of being pulled everywhere at once…

"You probably need rest…" Magum comments gently. "There is a nearby warehouse that is mine and has my quarters, you can rest there if you would like."

"Please…" Layla rasps in pain, tears stinging her eyes. "My head hurts so bad…"

Magum raises a hand and gently caresses her head. After a moment he gives a frown and then puts both of his hands on her head. His frown deepens. "Odd…" he whispers as he lowered them.

"What…?"

"I'm a telepath… usually I can help, but for some reason I can't with you…" Magum explains almost wistfully. He then gently takes her hand to guide her through the unfamiliar streets. "Come along, Layla, you need some rest."

Layla couldn't tell where she was being taken to, her mind was nothing but a painful blur as her vision began to darken. She stumbles in her steps, but Magum helps her not to fall. What seemed like an eternity she felt her body finally hit something soft and instantly felt her body relax as she fell asleep.

* * *

A cackle echoed in her mind as she suddenly felt herself jerk upwards, her sitting in what looked like her bedroom back in Gravity Falls, Layla's blue eyes darting around frantically.

"Hello…?" she calls out, her body trembling.

There was a sound that sounded like electricity buzzing all around her as the cackling grew louder. Suddenly there was a triangular shaped hole as one eye opened. The hole then turned yellow as something came out of the hole, wearing a top hat, having a brick-like pattern on its lower half of its body, wearing a bow-tie, and had black arms and legs that would've looked hilarious of its cackle didn't sound so… demonic.

 _"_ _Well, well, well, look who I happen to stumble upon in the Dreamscape!"_ the triangle laughed shrilly, its eye taking on that shape as if it were smiling. _"Little Layla Bartek, Barty's daughter!"_

"W-what!?" Layla shouted, her trying to take a step back but she ended up tripping over her own feet and ended up hitting the back of her head against the wooden frame of her bed. "How do you know my name!? How do you know my father!?" she screams, her clearly frightened.

The triangle laughed as his body took on what looked like still pictures of her father and even herself. _"You can't be that dumb, girl! I know you're smart! How about I give you a little… hand?"_ He held out a hand, it engulfed with a blue fire.

Layla looked at it, her mind and heart racing. Somewhere in her mind she knew it was a bad idea, but at the same she knew something was wrong with her mind… how was that she didn't remember certain things in her life? Layla's face scrunches up with determination as she tightly takes the hand of the triangle, her hand becoming engulfed in the blue flame.

Pressure builds up in her head as various images and scene flashed in her head. She screams loudly as she felt her body collapse to the floor, the triangle's shrill laugh being in the background. She saw her mother's dead body, she saw the triangle with her father as they brought people in and being chopped up and injected with various serums, and she saw how her father's eyes glowed yellow with a black slit pupil.

 _"_ _Wasn't that fun, Layla?"_ she heard the triangle, _Bill Cipher_ , laugh loudly. _"Want another round of painful memories?"_

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Layla roars in anger. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD YOU DEMON!"

 _"_ _Don't you get it? Your father drugged you so much to suppress your memories that this overload is practically killing you!"_ Bill laughs, his body glowing like gold. _"Oh, man… now if I can just access the part about Ma-"_

* * *

Layla bolts upright, her blank hair matted to her head with sweat, her heart pounding loudly in her chest as she heard the blood roar in her ears.

She panted, her electric blue eyes darting around frantically, trying to make sense of where she was. The young woman had been so used to sleeping on the streets or under anything that looked like it would block her from the elements that she was shocked that she was in an actual bed. The bed had silky feeling sheets, something she has never felt underneath her palms. Even the bed itself was the most comfortable thing she has ever been on, her bed back home was hard and lumpy, making her back ache every morning when she woke.

Layla puts a hand to her head, it throbbing painfully with her heartbeat. She felt the sheets wrapped around her small body, and she tugged them closer to her, frightened of what was in her dream.

 _More like a nightmare…_

Did all of that really happen?

The flashes go through again, this time a lot more clear. She remembered going into town at the age of thirteen and running into a man, and later that same day she saw her father chop of a hand and saw a river of scarlet heading towards her.

 _They_ are _real…!_

 _You're trying to see the good in him when_ there isn't!

"Rick was right… I am delusional…" Layla cried to herself softly, bringing her knees to her chest, still covered with the sheet, and her chin rests on her satin covered knees, the tears making dark droplets into the fabric.

A small click of a door and it was opened causing Layla to jump and throws the sheet over her. She then scoffs at herself, thinking that it was too childish for her and removes the sheet. Stepping inside was Magum, him shutting the door behind him softly. He then turns and notices that Layla was sitting up in the bed.

"Oh, good," he says with light smile. "You're awake." He walks up to the bed and stands next to Layla, his gaze lingering on her a little too long.

The girl stammers, "H-hello…"

"Is your head feeling better?" Magum asks with concern, his head tilted slightly.

"Yeah…" she lies, it still aching painfully. "But… there was something weird that happened…"

Magum then sits next to Layla. "And what was that?" he then asks curiously.

"There was… a floating triangle… with one eye…" she puts a hand to her head as it ached. "He… he knew my father and they did… terrible things… like killing people…" her voice shook more as she spoke, her finally coming to realize that her father was truly a terrible person. Or was he manipulated to be this way…?

"Bill Cipher," Magum's voice and face hardened. "That… that demon stops at nothing for death and destruction."

"That was what was on that poster with the cipher on it…" Layla remembers. "He really sounds bad… he manipulated my father…"

Without Layla noticing a wolf-like smile spreads across Magum's features. He knew something she didn't, and he was going to keep that to his full advantage.

"Layla… how about you join us?" Magum offered. "We can train you on how to fight and defend yourself, that way you can find your father."

The girl whips her gaze to him, her mouth slacked with disbelief. "Are… are you serious? _Me_? Fighting? I can't do that… I'm too scared…" she squeaks out. She then holds up a trembling hand. "I can't even get my hands to stop shaking…"

Magum then puts his hand over both of hers and stops the trembling. "You will learn," he insists. "Now… I've noticed something on why I can't help your mind…" he gently puts a hand to her head and gives a soft tap, her hearing the clang of metal. "A metal plate… how did that get there?" he wonders aloud.

Layla's memory flashes as she remembered the sharp bit of a drill going into her skull. She puts a hand to her temple and felt the bump of where scar tissue was. It had been about a year and it was still painful, it often feeling warm to the touch and she noticed pus in her hair from it. As she touched it she felt the ooze on her hand, making her face grimace.

"You're sick, aren't you?" Magum assumed, gently removing her hand and noticing the infection. "That has been spreading for quite some time… that's why you have a grayish complexion and why your head is warm…" He then noticed her small stature, her stature making her almost looking childish. "And your growth looks like it has been stunted from malnutrition from your young childhood. His eyes however lingered toward her chest, noting that part of the development department did its part. "You need to see one of my healers, they will help you."

Layla nods enthusiastically. She wanted all the aches and pains to go away from what she was feeling. "Will there be edible food too?" she asks childishly, her voice going higher with hope.

Magum gives a laugh. "Yes, I will make sure that you are fed as well. Maybe we can boost some nutrients into you," he tells her.

Layla gets out of the bed and was led to a different part of that large building she was in. Stares burned into her skin as the other members glared at her, a few hateful looks from females. Layla ignored it for the most part, but still felt uneasy. Finally she was put into a small, white room, where a being that looked similar to Magum, but with glowing purple eyes, gave her a series of injections.

She was used to needles poking into her flesh, she had countless small scars on her hands from her father's serums and such. A few of the injections instantly made her feel better, the ache in her head disappearing, but an echo of a cackle remained in the back of her mind. Layla was also given a bottle of something that resembled pills, a various amount of colors, and was instructed to take one a day when she woke up until they were gone.

"It will help with your nutrition," the purple-eyed being explained as she handed the bottle.

Once she was done with what she assumed was a doctor she was escorted by Magum to a room filled with tables and patrons eating from bowls. Some used utensils while others used their appendages to scoop of the lumps of their meals into whatever orifice was used for eating. She sat on a bench next to a large patron that looked similar to a blob of green goo, using a trunk to suck up whatever was in the bowl in front of it. A bowl was placed in front of Layla, the contents filled with what looked like oatmeal, but it was a dark green in color with bits of orange.

She grimaces at the contents, it reminding her of her vomit from when she had been sick. However, she once again swallowed her pride and used a spoon-like utensil and scooped a spoonful into her mouth. Her grimace turned into a satisfied smile, to her it tasted like her favorite thing in a world, a crisp green apple.

"This is designed to tap into your brain on what your favorite food is," Magum explains to her as he noticed her smile. "It then registers to your taste buds and you recognize it."

"That's an amazing idea…!" Layla cheers happily as she takes another spoonful. "Wish Earth had something like this…" A burst of green apple flavor fills her mouth. Growing up she rarely had one unless her father remembered to buy some at the store or if Rick had stolen some for her when he snuck out.

"It is also filled with nutrients," Magum tells her as he watched her eat. "It'll help you like the medicine you received will."

Layla nods happily as she finished up her green apple flavored slop. "Can I have more?" she begs, her electric blue eyes big and pleading.

Magum shakes his head, Layla's face crestfallen. "Sorry, only one bowl for you. Too much will make you sick," he informs her as he pushed the bowl away from her. "Now come, I will show you your permanent sleeping quarters during the course of your training."

Layla follows Magum through a door that led to a long white hall, various doors lining the walls. She assumed this was the residential area of the warehouse they were in. The door were a solid black against the stark white walls, them almost looking like voids. They finally stopped in front of one and Magum opens the door, the inside a small room that fit a twin sized bed and a dresser for clothing.

The ravened haired young woman steps inside, it feeling warm against her bare skin. She sits on the bed, it feeling soft beneath her, although not as soft as the bed she was previously in. The sheets weren't as silky as the one she was in before, and she had to choke back a sound of disappointment at the sheets.

"How will I remember this is my room?" Layla questions, her confused how she would find the place when the hallway had all identical doors.

"What is your favorite color?" Magum then asks her, tapping on the dresser.

She automatically responds, "Purple."

He then gestures to the door. "Take a gander," he tells her.

Layla does as she was told and walked outside the room to see the door. She gasps in surprise when she saw the door was a deep purple, her name scrawled in the center in golden letters. She rushes back inside, her face pink with excitement.

"It will only look like that to you," Magum smiles at her. "That's how you will know this is your room. The door has a special property that taps into your brain, similar to the food, and finds what you will recognize the most."

"That's interesting…" Layla comments. As much as she read on things, psychology or anything with the brain wasn't her strong suit. "How do you know so much about the brain?"

Magum gestures with his hand to her head. "I am a being that is psychological, I am an expert in brain functionalities. The only thing I can't do is access dreams and nightmares, which is a different role entirely to a certain race of demons…" his words clipped at the end with anger.

"Does… that have to do with Bill Cipher…?" Layla questions fearfully, her head beginning to ache once again.

Magum gives her a hard look, a look that made her flinch. "Yes," he replies curtly. "He is a dream demon, the last of his kind, like I am the last of mine."

Layla decided not to ask any more about it, the look on Magum's face frightening her greatly. He looked as if though he wanted to kill someone.

"Well, um," Layla nervously whispers. "Thank you, thank you very much for helping me. I really appreciate it!" Her voice got stronger towards the end, her having a large smile on her face. "How can I repay you for this?"

Once again Magum gives a wolf-like smile. "Oh, there will come a time for that," he says nonchalantly. "But for now, you are welcome, my dear Layla."

"But I do have a question…"

Magum raises a brow in confusion. "Yes?"

"Where do I go to the bathroom and bathe?"

A look of realization passed over his features. "Oh! I had forgotten that humans required that…" he laughs. He then leads her to a small switch on the wall by where the bed was. He presses it and a small hiss sounded as a latch was released. The bed moves slightly to reveal a hole with a ladder leading down. "Down there is a small facility… not many creatures require this kind of service, so most don't know this feature exists."

"Yes… I can finally take a shower…!" Layla sighs happily, a relaxed smile on her face.

"I will send clothing her for you," Magum notifies. "Clothing that is appropriate for training. There are also basic products in the chamber as well, do tell me if they do not satisfy your needs and I can get you new ones."

Layla then jokes as she points to her head, "What you don't have soap that links to my brain to make it whatever scent I want?"

Magum then narrows his eyes. "That is ridiculous…" he insists. "Although…" he then gives a smile. "I can look into that. See you later, my dear Layla." He then leaves the room and leaves Layla alone.

Alone.

Being alone was now an odd sensation, she was so used to his company. Before tears could fill her eyes she descends the ladder into a chamber that was a pale blue, it actually looking like a normal bathroom with tiled floors. There was a large class box that was the shower, it with multiple shower heads and various soaps.

The girl strips off her clothing, it feeling like she was peeling off a layer of disgusting skin, and drops the items to the floor. She turns on the water, waiting for the perfect temperature, seeing steam slowly filling the room. A sigh of satisfaction escapes her as she goes under the water, feeling the heat relax her muscles.

Layla washed her hair a total of three times, each time taking a layer of filth off of her hair follicles. She scrubbed her body, feeling as if she was peeling layers and layers of dead skin. Dirt and grime turned the water that dripped off her body into a disgusting gray color, proving on how filthy she was. She had found a special product removed unwanted hair and she puts the lather on the appropriate parts of her body.

Once the water was shut off Layla stood in the box as water dripped off of her body. The droplets hit the floor with soft taps, her taking deep breaths and letting the warm air fill her lungs. It was the first time she has truly felt clean in over a year, her body smooth and nearly glistening. She leaves the shower chamber and finds a white towel, wrapping it around her body as she climbed the ladder back into her room.

As she stepped out of the hole she hit the switch she saw Magum hit and the bed moved back into its regular position. She saw on the dresser there were multiple pairs of clothing sitting on top folded neatly. Pairs of underwear and bras were sorted between black and white, all surprisingly her size. There were also pairs of socks for her, a pair of solid black boots, and many pairs of black pants. There were shirts of various dark colors, mainly dark blues and purples.

"This is odd…" Layla comments as she dressed herself. "It's like he measured me in my sleep or something…"

The clothing felt soft against her clean skin and she smiles. She opens a drawer and finds a brush and begins to brush her jet black hair. Her hair was significantly longer than her short hair she had a year ago, her hair waving and feathering around her face. When she was done she sets the brush on the dresser and crawls into her bed, the lights automatically turning off.

Layla scoffs a laugh, "I bet this connects to my brain and knows when I'm tired." She felt her body relaxing into the bed, surrounding her and supporting her back. A smile crossed her face as she closes her eyes, feeling sleep greeting her.

Her dreams were triangle free.

* * *

 **A/N:** The beginning of Magum and Layla's relationship! We know how this ends, but now we can see how it all began! He is trying to act sweet and caring, but we all know he is a jerkface like Bill.

Thanks for reading as always and sorry about the long wait!

~Skye Hendersen~


	5. Layla's Mission

**Chapter 5: Layla's Mission**

The next few months was hard to get used to, but she managed quite well.

Layla trained everyday with her hand-to-hand combat and learned how to take down enemies that were over three times her size. One of her favorites in training was learning how to shoot one of the plasma guns that they had, her becoming a natural sharpshooter. Everyday her muscles ached terribly, but in the end it was worth it.

She looked a lot healthier then she used to, her black hair shining from regular bathing and the special hair products. Her weight was in a much more natural range for her size, she had even grown a couple of inches from the sudden nutrient boost. Her once deathly pale skin finally a slight lush of pink, her cheeks a little rosy. All in all she hadn't felt this good in years, or in fact her entire life.

As a child she knew her life wasn't normal. It wasn't normal for a child to be deprived of social interaction, she read enough psychology and childhood development books to know that was the case with her being so messed up. The year before when she told Rick that she didn't know what normal is, she was right, she didn't know the normal interactions that she was supposed to have.

But that didn't matter at that moment, this was her normal now and she enjoyed it. Layla enjoyed training her body to be the strongest that it could be. With her small stature she was a lot faster than the other members that had joined Magum.

An odd pang hits her chest. She hasn't seen Magum since beginning her training. He had been so nice to her, offering her food, shelter, and a way to better herself. How was she supposed to repay him if she never _saw_ him?

 _He's probably just busy…_

Layla wore a skin tight black shirt and pants with her usual boots as she walked down the pure white hallways to make her way to the training facility. Inside the facility there were mats on the floor to practice fighting while another majority of the room was filled with weight training equipment. Her favorite room of training, the shooting range, was in a completely different part of the warehouse.

"There you are, Layla!" barked a large burly bear-looking creature. His fur was white as snow with frost covered tips and his eyes were black as coals, him being three times larger than a regular bear. He also had a few extra arms as well, but one hand was missing, and he never told how it happened.

"Hello, Colonel," Layla greets him with an emotionless voice. She didn't care too much for this character, thinking because he takes his name "Colonel" too seriously and enjoys bossing people around. She knew that he especially enjoyed watching a human girl like her get beaten up and have limbs broken. "Thinking about how to you want to steal candy from a baby again?" she gives him a mocking grin, which caused him to bare his fangs.

"You better watch it, Human," Colonel growled threateningly.

Layla gives a false pout, her being over dramatic, and she blinked her electric blue eyes multiple times. "Oh, is Colonel upset because he still has stay in the training facility to train others and that Magum doesn't trust him to a mission?" she coos over sweetly.

Suddenly she was thrown backwards, Colonel lashing out on her. She collapsed to the unmated part of the floor with a crash, her head smacking against the hard ground. Her vison was blurred for just a moment before she jumped right back up just in time to be punched in her nose. A sickening crunch followed by a large amount of scarlet came from her now broken nose, the blood falling to the floor with soft pats.

Layla panted, her tasting the iron-laced scarlet in her mouth, it staining her teeth a disgusting brown. Instead of backing down she stood tall proudly, raising her fists up, ready to put up a fight.

"C'mon, Colonel," Layla jeered with large smile with her eyebrows furrowed with determination. "Is that the best you got? A human girl got right back up!" Her voice sounded nasally as her nose broken, a common injury she was used to getting but she didn't care.

The first time she was beaten to a pulp she was in so much pain and was terrified. But she was always escorted to a healer and healed like it never happened as it was ordered by Magum. When she asked why he would do that she was told that she was a "special guest" of his and preferred her to be well in health.

Now she stood her ground with the largest monster in the building, no longer in fear, she knew Magum would take care of her if needed be.

"Listen, Human!" Colonel roared, venom dripping from his words. "Just because you are Magum's little pet doesn't mean you think you're all bad!"

"Come at me you ugly bastard!"

Just as Colonel went to grab toward Layla's throat, he stopped dead in his tracks as he suddenly stood up straight, his facial expression looking terribly frightened. Layla turns around, feeling the blood dripping off her nose, and saw that Magum was in the doorway of the facility.

Magum looked unamused, his white eyes glaring. "Now what the hell is going on here!?" he demands, him taking a few steps forward. He takes one look at Layla and looked instantly worried. "My dear Layla, what in the world happened?"

Layla then points at Colonel. "Colonel just beating me up again," she tells him nonchalantly. Her speech now was a lot less timid, her voice before sounding higher and frightened all the time. But now her voice was lower sounding as she forced herself to sound much more confident with herself.

Magum then glares at Colonel. "Now, now, I thought we talked about this…?" he lowly questions, his voice hard. "I can't you beating up a valuable person for our cause."

"Valuable!?" Colonel roars, foam in the corners of his mouth as his fangs were bared. "How is she _valuable_!? She's just a lowlife human with no real skills! Why do you keep her around?!"

"Bartek," was Magum's only response, which caused a veil of silence to cover the room in a hush.

"As in… Dr. Bartholomew Bartek…?" Colonel slowly asked, each word dragged out like he was testing out a new language. He then glares at Layla, his black eyes seemingly filled with recognition as well as a fire of rage and hatred. " _That's_ why you look so familiar!" He takes a rushed step forward but was held back with one of Magum's telekinetic blasts. "You're that _bitch that was in the alleyway in Gravity Falls!"_

Layla flinches, a memory fluttering into her mind as she remembered being in an alleyway to shield herself from the wind. An echo of a voice asked her what she was doing there. Then it fluttered back to a scream of agony as a disembodied hand fell to the floor and a pool of blood slowly crawled towards her face…

Colonel then raised the arm that had the missing hand. _"You're bastard father did this to me! He sent me here because of you!"_ he screams as her, his fury rising as frost glittered the floor, it spider-webbing towards Layla.

"Y-you… were… in the basement…" Layla barely whispers, her taking a step back, the blood dripping to the floor from her nose. Once frost touched it the blood became frozen solid, red and shining like glass.

 _"_ _I'LL KILL YOU! HOW ABOUT I RIP YOUR LIMBS OFF LIKE YOUR FATHER DID TO SO MANY OF US!?"_

 _"_ _ENOUGH!"_ Magum's powerful voice interrupts, everything silent once more. He then used his hand to make a pushing motion causing Colonel to be thrown back and smack against the weights. "The girl is as much as a victim here as you all are, one more act against her and I will _personally_ see to it that you are no longer existing."

Colonel gets up from his position, panting heavily from the telekinetic blast. He still glared at Layla hard and with such a fury that Layla had to glance away. The burly beast stalks away, him growling under his breath.

"My dear, Layla," Magum's voice interrupts Layla's thoughts. She glances at him, feeling her eyes open wide, afraid she was going to get yelled at. "You must go to the healer immediately, I have a mission for you to go on and you must be in shape," he simply says.

The tightness in her chest lightens as she gives a sigh of relief. "Yes, of course, Magum, she replies, her sounding a little breathless.

"And… get some pain medication too," Magum suggests. "I will send word ahead so that everything is all set for you, my dear."

"Thank you very much," Layla tells him with appreciation.

"After you meet with the healer I will meet you in your quarters to give you your instructions," he informs her as he walks past her.

Layla gives a nod. She follows out of the room behind him, he turned down the hallway that led to her room as she walked the opposite way to go towards the healer. The healer's office was a stark white, all in it was a table that was covered with a white sheet. Layla sits on the bed and waits patiently for the healer to come in.

"Hello, Layla," the healer says, her purple eyes widening with recognition. "Master Magum has informed me of your little accident. Another fight with Colonel correct?"

"Yeah… he apparently knew my father…" Layla explains, her voice softening. "And I… I had met him before… He never knew my last name until today."

"All I know is that Colonel is one of the only few sane survivors of Dr. Bartek's experiments."

Layla scoffs under her breath, "Sane? Yeah right…"

The healer then grabs a small canister of some blue liquid and took out a needle and syringe and filled it with the blue liquid. The healer approaches Layla and grabs her chin to lift the young woman's head up so she could have a better look.

"He practically broke your nose off of your skull… not really, I'm exaggerating but the nose is shattered…" the healer commented, her purple eyes glancing over Layla's nose. "How you're still conscious I'll never know." She then injects the hypodermic needle by Layla's broken nose.

Layla feels a sharp pain as her nose then gets snapped back into place by the healer. A burning sensation fills Layla's face as she felt her nose being mended, her gritting her teeth at the small, sharp pains. After about five minutes the blood was wiped off her face and she was good as new.

Or, as new as she could get anyway.

"You need to be more careful," the healer instructed. "Just because we have these medicines it doesn't mean that they will work all of the time. Eventually you will build a tolerance to them."

"Oh, okay…" Layla replies, her giving a nod in understanding.

The healer nods back. "Now, I understand Master Magum would like to speak with you," she says as she grabs a small bottle of pain relieving medication. "Here is the pain medicine, you may go now. You do not want to keep him waiting."

Layla grabs the bottle with a firm nod and jumps off the table. She says her thanks as she leaves, making her way toward her room, seeing her purple door that her mind customized just for her. Her hand reached out and opened the door immediately, the seventeen-year-old girl's heart fluttering in her chest as her face slightly blushed as she knew who was on the other side.

She opens the door and she saw that Magum was standing there waiting for her. He looked a little grim, his white eyes looking like he had seen some misfortune.

"Hello," Layla greets, her giving a slight wave.

"Hello, my dear Layla," Magum greets back. "Did you grab the pain the pain medicine?"

"Yeah I did…" Layla responds as she shows him the pills. "But why do I need them if the injections heal me?"

Magum gives an awkward shrug. "Well… you are getting your nutrition so that means you should be getting your menstrual cycle again, so you might be in pain." He looked extremely uncomfortable talking about it. "One of the other females in the facility has brought this information up to me."

Layla gives a confused look. "I've _never_ had that," she tells him, her still being confused. She had read the books on women's health that her father had in his medical textbooks. She had understood that she was technically a late bloomer due to her stress and her malnutrition, but she figured because it was late into her puberty that she would just "skip" it; that is not the case in the slightest she realizes now, and she was not looking forward to it.

"Just keep the pills just in case," Magum orders gently.

Layla sets them on the dresser and she sits on her bed, waiting for Magum to speak of a mission that she must do. "So, what am I doing?" she asks him happily, a smile on her face. Ever since arriving there she had been in a much happier mood.

Magum stands in front of her and looks down, him towering over her. "My mission for you is the steal plans from Bill Cipher himself," he instructs.

Layla's eyes widened as she bolts up. "Wait, what!?" she screams. "I'm not ready for that! I can't do it… I… I…!" She starts to panic as she starts pacing from one end of the room to the other.

"Layla," Magum firmly says, causing her to stop in her tracks. "Please calm down and listen to the rest." She sits back down on the bed to calm her frantic heartbeat. Magum then continues, "Bill recognizes most of my people, he however does not know you truly. All you must do, with one or two others, is go in, steal an energy-looking orb that contains his plans and bring it back here."

"An energy orb…?" Layla echoes.

"An energy orb is how higher beings like demons store high amounts of information that can be easily shared amongst followers." Magum explains.

Layla then nods in understanding. "Alright, I'll do it!" she confirms, taking on the task.

* * *

Layla was outside of the warehouse facility in an all-black body suit covering her from her neck to all the way to her toes, her wearing knee-high boots that were flat and a solid black.

Her jet black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the hair feathering behind her. She wore elbow length gloves that went over the material of the body suit, a rubber-like grip on the fingers and palms to be able to climb. The only things that stood out on her was her white skin, which almost gave her a ghostly appearance, and her electric blue eyes.

She waited for a few minutes, waiting for another person to help her with this mission. Layla still didn't understand why she was being sent on the mission, she knew she wasn't trained enough, she barely had enough strength to stand up after being hit by Colonel. However, she would not let her uneasiness show, she wanted to impress Magum since he was so kind to her.

Soon two others walked through the main door of the warehouse, them wearing similar attire to Layla. They both seemed to be females, one with long pink hair tied into a tight bun and the other having blonde hair braided down the middle of her back. They stopped in front of Layla, the one with pink hair smiling in greeting while the blonde did not. They both had neon green eyes, their eyes seemingly to be glowing, and had pointed ears similar to an elf's. The girl with pink hair had light purple colored skin while the blonde hair had light pink colored skin. Besides the hair and skin being different, they looked oddly identical with their facial features.

"Hello, you must be Layla, yes?" the girl with pink hair asked, her voice sounding high.

"Of course she is, she is the only human," the girl with blonde hair retorts, her voice just as high sounding, but her tone was much more snobby.

Layla extends a hand, her right so they wouldn't freak out about her birth defect. They looked at her extended hand oddly, but the girl with pink hair shook Layla's hand gently. "I am Layla, nice to meet you," Layla greets. "What are your names?"

The girl with pink hair replies excitedly, "I'm Mari!"

Layla stops shaking Mari's hand and turns to the blonde. "And you are?" she asks.

The blonde did not return the gesture. "Kari," she curtly says.

"We're twins!" the two said together at the same time, Mari being excited and Kari being monotone.

"Or we are now, we were once triplets," Mari shrugs.

Layla takes a step back, her surprised. "What… what happened…?"

"The reason why we are here," Kari bluntly said. "Bill Cipher. He took our sister and with the help of a monster you called a father turned her into one his head henchmen."

The raven-haired girl flinches at the mention of her father. "I'm… I'm so sorry…" she apologizes. "I… I didn't realize..."

Mari puts her hands on Layla's shoulders. "Don't apologize, it is not your fault. You are as much of a victim to your father as the subjects," the pink haired girl insisted. Kari rolled her eyes at that statement, muttering under her breath.

Kari then curtly shouts, "Come on you two! We have a mission to do!" She was tapping a booted foot impatiently.

Mari and Layla then proceed to follow Kari down the road as she turns down an alleyway. Once Kari stops she pulls out a map. On the map there was certain spots circled in red ink.

"What are those for?" Layla asks as she peered over the map.

"Natural portal openings," Kari replies, giving Layla a hard side glare as if the raven-haired girl was incompetent.

Mari then chips in, although in a much more positive tone, "Yes, they open due to some energy surge and they help you travel through different dimensional holes."

"They proceed to take you through sub-dimensions, or smaller dimensions within one larger dimension. We happened to be in a large dimension." Kari explains as she peers over the map.

"In order to go from one larger dimension to another, you need a large portal that takes up a lot of energy that is positioned in an area that has a weak dimensional wall." Mari then finishes.

Layla remembers the portal that was in her father's lab in the basement. It was extremely large and she remembered seeing the electric pulsations from the machine. That had to be a portal to go from one large dimension to the other… but why did her father make it for him to travel through?

Or was it to let someone _in_?

Kari leads both her sister and Layla to an alleyway where it was abandoned, only small creatures skittering about. Mari skips toward a wall, giving it a tap. The pink-haired girl gives a satisfied hum.

"Okay, Kari, how long do we wait?" Mari asked, her continuing to hum.

Kari peers over the map, her pointed ears perking up at a whirring sound. "About now," she replies. "Human girl-"

"My name is Layla."

"Whatever, step away."

Layla did as she was told, taking a step closer to Mari. She liked Mari a lot more as the pink-haired girl seemed to be a lot nicer. Kari on the other hand was being rude and snotty, it honestly irked Layla to no end.

The wall distorted as a small blue light appeared, it growing a bit more with each second. Within a minute it was a large circular opening that inside swirled with a platinum energy. The light casted on the three women, their skin becoming a flushed white from the intense light.

Layla's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. It looked similar to the portal that she was forced through a year ago… She takes a few steps back, but Mari grabbed her left hand.

"Layla, come on, we must go," the pink-haired girl insisted softly.

"I don't know… this seems dangerous…" Layla comments, her stomach feeling in knots.

Kari then pushes her in, Layla screaming in surprise. Once again she felt like her body was being torn in multiple directions, her feeling as if she were being torn apart. Just as fast as she had entered she flew out of the portal, her body hitting against the hard ground violently. With a groan she stands up, holing her right arm as it took most of the fall.

Her electric blue eyes widened as she looked around her surroundings. A small gasp escapes her as she sees nothing but black for hundreds of miles, the sky only being decorated with gashes of red as if the black was torn skin. In the distance was a single golden pyramid, it floating over the dark void below.

"H-how are we supposed to get there?" Layla asks nervously, her voice wavering. She looks at Mari and Kari and they too had eyes that were wide as saucers.

Kari then looks at her sister. "Mari, have you perfected the levitation spell yet?" the blonde inquired.

Mari nods enthusiastically. "Oh, yes, I've practiced a lot in the training room!" she replied to her sister.

In the back of her mind Layla recalled that someone was using levitation powers at one point in the training room. She probably wasn't around to see it though, she was most likely on her way to the healer after being beaten by Colonel.

Kari was levitating a few inches off the only solid ground they were standing on, a small stone platform in the middle of a lake of darkness. The blonde gives an impressed grunt and a nod as Mari lowers her to the platform.

"What can humans do?" Mari then asked Layla excitedly. "Do you guys have anything special?"

Layla glances around nervously. "Um… not really…" she stammered softly.

Kari rolls her eyes. "Okay, Mari, get us up there unseen!" the blonde orders.

"You got it!"

Layla then feels herself floating upwards. She felt as if though she were going to be sick, her insides moving about. With a startled yelp she flipped over backwards, her black ponytail whipping around and smacking her face. Kari and Mari were perfectly fine, them able to control how they moved in the air.

"Stop squirming!" Kari hissed. "You'll make it worse!"

"I feel like I'm gonna be sick…!" Layla complained, her holding her abdomen. Her pale face looked a little flushed of green.

"Just imagine yourself in water!" Mari then suggested. "Like… in a large body of water and how you would manipulate on floating on it!"

Layla closes her eyes, which made the nausea worse. But then she imagined being in water, which was a little difficult as she has never been in a large body of water. So she imagined being in the bathtub, as that was the largest body of water she had ever been in, and focused on being on her back and the outside world becoming distorted.

Once she imagined that she imagined herself standing upright, her body gently adjusting itself into position. After a few moments she blinked open her eyes and saw that she was facing Kari and Mari upright, her floating.

"This... this is weird…" Layla comments, her trying to calm her nausea still.

Kari rolls her eyes. "Let's just get this over with…" she muttered as she started floating toward the pyramid. Mari grabs Layla's hand and helps her float along as well, Layla occasionally flipping backwards from her lack of focus.

The trio finally makes it to the pyramid, it having a small platform at the entrance to stand on. They dropped down, Mari and Kari landing on their feet as Layla fell on her back with a yelp. Layla groaned in pain Mari helped her up, giving her an affectionate pat the rave-haired girl's back.

"So… how do we get in?" Layla asked as she looked over the pyramid.

The pyramid was much larger in person than from a distance. The golden color was practically illuminating, Layla's eyes burning. Layla had to crane her neck and bend over backwards to see the top.

"Kari, you perfected your intangibility spell, right?" Mari asked her sister, her tapping the wall and saw that it was solid.

Kari snaps, "Of course I did!" She closes her eyes and touches both Mari and Layla. Layla felt an odd tingling sensation and she gasped in surprise. "Now, only thing we need to do is hold our breath as we pass through."

"Why?" Layla questioned.

"Just because we're interdimensional creatures doesn't mean that we have the special ability to breathe in solid matter." Kari scoffed as she phases through the wall after taking a huge breath.

Mari grabs Layla's hand. "Take a deep breath," she said as she started to phase through the wall.

Layla takes a deep breath and starts walking through the wall. Her eyes bugged out as she felt like her body was being crushed but not at the same time. It was odd as she saw solid matter pass through her hand. As she left the wall on the other side she gasps for air, her lungs feeling like they were being liberated from the feeling of being crushed.

The inside of the pyramid was a negative version of the outside. Inside the floors were a black marble, Layla's boots echoing on the floor. The walls were also black and made with obsidian, decorated with tapestries depicting Bill with his blue flames surrounded by a crumbling society.

"Well… this demon is a little narcissistic…" Layla muttered as she walked down the massive hall.

"So is Master Magum…" Mari replies. She gasps aloud and slaps a hand over her mouth, her neon green eyes darting around frantically.

"Are you _trying_ to get us killed?!" Kari hissed angrily.

Layla nods as she says, "She's right, Bill or something else might hear us."

"Not Bill!" Kari yelped as she covered her own mouth as her voice echoed. She then whispered, " _Magum._ "

Layla's heart pounded in her chest. "What… what do you mean…?" she asked cautiously.

Kari then taps her head. "He is a telepathic demon," she explains. "He can read minds. Despite us having metal plates in our heads to keep Bill out, Magum still has full access."

"D-demon…? I thought that's what Bill was…" Layla stammered. "And metal plates…?" She put a hand to her head, knowing what was under the skin.

Mari widened her eyes. "You… you didn't know…?" the pink-haired girl gasped. "Magum is one of the most powerful demons in the multiverse next to Bill."

Layla took a few steps away from the two. "What… what are you talking about…? He was so nice…" she said, her breaths coming in gasps.

"That's a mask, you delusional human!" Kari shouted. "He does that to get followers, but to be honest he is just as bad or worse…"

"If he is so bad, then why do you work for him then!?" Layla spats. "What is making you stay there?"

"Torture," they replied in unison.

Layla narrows her eyes angrily. "I don't believe you," she huffed, her tone short. "He's been nothing but nice to me. He took me off the streets of an unknown dimension of God knows what, gave me a room, food, a way to help my nutrition, and help me get stronger…! So, until I see it, I won't believe you." She turns her back to the sisters and starts walking down the hallway, trying to get away from the conversation. Layla heard behind her, "She's going to go through hell." In a way she felt guilty as Mari was nice to her, and Kari may be rude she still probably didn't deserve the dark-haired girl to snap.

The trio got to the end of the hallway as Kari looked over a second part of the map, her looking to see where Bill's plans were. Mari looked over at Layla sadly, her neon green eyes seemingly to lose their glow. Kari found the next part of the mission so that they could steal Bill's plans.

As they walked through the hallways they stayed close to the shadows, occasionally seeing one of Bill's henchmen passing by. Soon they get to the chambers that held multiple orbs of various colors. Layla didn't even know some of the names of these colors, thinking that maybe that there weren't even names for some of them yet.

"So… which one holds the plans we need?" Mari asked as she walked to the orbs, touching a couple and watching a small scene play out.

"It should be a pure gold one…" Kari said as she started looking around.

As Layla looked around she stumbled upon the golden orb. It was a solid gold, and it showed no little scene like the other ones. For a moment she thought it was fake. Until she touched it.

Flashes of scenes rampaged through her mind, most of were that familiar cackle of Bill Cipher's. But then others went into her head… familiar scenes of her home in Gravity Falls…

The flashes stopped just as fast as they had happened, Layla gasping for air with a hand to her head. She grabs the orb and heads back to Mari and Kari, them still looking around for the orb that she had in her hand.

"I got it, let's go," Layla was saying but as she looked up from the orb she saw that both the sisters were in a tight grasp of a large monster that looked similar to a goblin except it had eight-balls for eyes. The orb falls from her hands and rolls underneath a nearby table that held more orbs.

The monster glares at Layla, both the sisters struggling in its tight grasp. It opens its mouth and lets out a roar as it rushed at Layla, the girl gasping as she turned tail and ran the opposite direction. She knocked down other tables that held orbs, trying to slow down the eight-balled eyed monster as much as she could.

She ended up tripping over a stray ball that she had knocked down that rolled by her foot. She yelped loudly as her body crashed into the floor, her head smacking against the hard surface, her feeling her hot blood pulse out of a new wound. Another scream erupts from her as she felt her leg being grasped by a large hand. Her body was hoisted up, the blood rushing to her head.

"A new one of Magum's pets?" the beast rumbled deeply. "Cipher will be pleased to know I caught three of your rats."

Kari began mumbling under breath. Suddenly she and Mari phased through the grip of the monster, them tumbling to the floor. Kari ran to where Layla had dropped the golden orb and tried to grab Mari's hand, but Mari ripped it away from her sister's grasp.

"We need to help Layla!" Mari hissed.

"Are you nuts!?" Kari demanded, her pink complexion darkening to a red. "She's a delusional human, leave her to rot!"

"No." Mari firmly told her sister as she rushed toward the monster. She mumbled like her sister did and the eight-balled eyed monster began levitating. It was so surprised that it dropped Layla, her wounded head once again smacking against the ground. "Get her!" Mari ordered her sister, her voice in such a harsh tone.

Kari's eyes widened, as if she never had heard her talk like that before, and rushed toward Layla. "You better be worth this," the blonde huffed as she helped Layla up.

"Trust me, I'm not," Layla replied, her words slurred from the blood loss.

Kari assists Layla out of the room, grabbing the orb and putting it in a side pouch on the way out, Mari running right behind them just as a large crash echoed in the hallway as they exited. Blood was pouring out of Layla's head wound, but she was beginning to get an adrenaline rush and the pain began to subside. The trio ran in the hallway, the tapestries that depicted Bill Cipher suddenly moving, and the eyes of the pictures following them with great interest.

An insane laughter echoed through the hallway, a chill running up Layla's spine. She knew that laugh…

"We need to move faster!" Layla cried out, her running toward one of the tapestries. She ripped one down and started carrying it with her.

"What is that for!?" Kari demanded, her neon green eyes narrowed.

"It'll come in handy!" Layla insisted as she ran past the sisters.

Just as the trio made it to the wall that they had phased in before, another girl that looked nearly identical to Kari and Mari stood there, blocking their way. The girl, like Kari and Mari, had neon green eyes, but unlike the other two this girl's eyes were narrowed dangerously and burned with a cold fire. She had pale blue hair that went down to her chin, her skin a pale yellow. She wore a golden dress that flowed down to her knees, ruffling at the bottom with black lace and a solid black petticoat. The girl wore black high heels and long black gloves that reached her elbows. All in all the girl looked elegant but dangerous.

"Sari!?" Mari gasped, her hands to her mouth to hold back a sob.

"Hello, my dear sisters," Sari greeted, her voice sounding identical to Mari's and Kari's voices, but it was hallowed out with a bitter coldness. "Have you two finally decided to join the lesser of two evils?"

"No!" Kari shouted, taking a step toward her lost triplet. "How can you do this to us, Sari!? Bill killed off most of our dimension…! Our parents… our little brother…! And you go and join him!?" Her breaths came in shallow gasps. She takes a deep breath and stands firmly on the ground. "You are _no_ sister of mine after what you've done…! _Now stand aside!_ "

A wicked smile spread across Sari's lips. "I'm afraid not, Kari," she lowly said. "Master Cipher hasn't distributed the plans quite yet, so it is still needed."

"Well, I don't give a damn!" Layla then shouted, taking a step toward the girl. "I need to get these plans to Magum, and I don't care if you're their sister or not, you are not interfering with my mission!"

Sari cocked her head to the side. "Oh? Another one of Magum's delusional pets? I almost feel sorry for you…" she sadly stated. "I'll put you out of your misery soon, young child."

"I'M SEVENTEEN!"

Sari paid no attention to Layla's statement as she raised up a hand and a bolt of blue lightning shot from her palm. Mari knocked Layla down so she wouldn't get hit, and Kari used her phasing spell to have the lightning go through her. More and more bolts shot from Sari's hand, the bolts hitting the floor and leaving scorch marks. Mari and Layla dodged some bolts with the levitation spell, and Kari phased as much she could.

"Foolish sisters," Sari chided. "Your potential is _weak_! You still use incantations!?" Another bolt of lightning that got dangerously close to Layla's head. "Kari, at this point you should be able to phase the _entire room_ out of this building! And Mari, sweet little Mari, you should be able to levitate _whole structures_ instead of bodies! I can see you're struggling just keeping you and the human girl up in the air!"

Layla still gripped the tapestry, her forming a plan in her head. "Mari… get me a little closer to Sari," she whispered to the pink-haired girl.

"WHAT!?" Mari hissed. "That could get us killed!"

"I'm gonna throw this over her head, and Kari can phase us out of here…" Layla explained. "Sari will be distracted and we won't hurt her… despite everything she is still your sister."

Mari bit her lip and gives a frim nod. "Oaky…" she agreed as she focused on getting closer to Sari.

Sari's focused on Kari, her lightning bolts getting faster and faster, Kari barley having enough time to phase. Kari's brow was soaked with sweat, her breaths coming in gasps. She was getting too tired… she couldn't keep up.

"HEY SARI!" Layla shouted right above the girls head. Sari whipped around, her dress flowing. "Lights out for you!" Layla throws the tapestry over Sari's head, it super long and getting tangled around her legs. Mari lowered herself closer to Kari and grabbed her arm. "Kari, can you phase one more time to get us out of here?" Layla asked the blonde.

"Yes…" Karis replied, a small smile on her face. "Thank you…"

"You helped me."

Kari managed to phase one more time to get the three through the solid matter. They made it through the other side just as the spot in the wall next them blasted apart. Sari stood in the hole, lightning crackling around her as the tapestry and the bottom of her dress torn to rags, her eyes wickedly dangerous.

"I was being _nice_ to you!" Sari screeched, her voice exasperated. "I'm trying to convince you to join me! To join all this power!"

"We made our own stupid decision by joining Magum…" Mari admitted, her eyes filling with tears. "We did it so we could find you again so the three of us could go home _together_!"

 _"_ _HOME!? WE DON'T HAVE A HOME ANYMORE, MARI!"_ Sari screamed at her sister. "Soon no one will have a home! The multiverse… no, the _universe_ will either be under either Bill's or Magum's control… no matter what we must choose a side or die… why can't we be on the same side...? Please, sisters… stay with me with the orb and toss that human to the side."

"She is our friend, Sari," Kari then stated, something Layla thought she would never hear. "You betrayed our dimension and caused Bill to destroy it… I tried to forgive you for it, for your decision, but I can't…" The blonde slowly walked toward her sister. "You may be our 'big sister', but you are no longer our sister after everything you have done…"

Sari scoffed, "You can't be serious."

Layla takes a step forward. "It's not too late to change, Sari. You can your sisters can still be together," she says as she stood next to Kari.

Sari looked as if though she was doing some deep thought. A wicked smile then spreads across her face. "No." she stated as she raised her hands to do a double lightning bolt attack. However before she did Layla pushed Sari towards the wall as Kari helped, saying the incantation for the phasing spell.

"Wait… no!" Sari screams as her body was forced into the wall. Only her on hand stuck out, it frantically trying to grab the air, a muffling was heard in the wall.

"Even with all the power you had gained, you still can't breathe in solid matter, dear sister." Kari told the wall sadly as she watched as the hand went limp.

Mari choked back a sob, turning her head as her shoulders shook.

Kari takes out the orb from her pouch and hands it to Layla. "There… you have done your mission," she said in monotone.

"But at the cost of your sister…" Layla whispers. "That's not right…"

"She was going to be killed by Cipher anyway from not catching us… she was going either way," Kari muttered sadly. "It was better if it was by my hand…"

"It still doesn't make it right…" Layla told Kari.

Kari shrugs. "It's… it's fine…" her voice wavered as she walked over to a sobbing Mari. "It was like she was dead the entire time anyway… that wasn't Sari…"

* * *

The trio had made it back to their original sub-pocket dimension that held Magum's warehouse headquarters.

Layla held the orb tightly to her chest as they entered the warehouse, a scanner scanning their bodies to identify them. Mari and Kari had walked a little ways away from her as they made their way back to the warehouse, the two holding each other's hands.

Magum greeted them in the main lobby of the headquarters. "Greetings, ladies," he addressed. "It seems your mission was a success." He gestured at the orb that was in Layla's hands. He then gives a hard glare to Mari and Kari. "Don't think because you two were successful in this means you wouldn't be punished for insubordination."

Both the girls paled, almost looking white despite them having light purple and pink skin.

"NO!" Layla shouted in their defense. "Please, they are very nice! They helped with the mission…! They just lost their triplet, you can't punish them!" She had tears in her eyes, her gripping the orb so tight to her chest that it was beginning to hurt her.

Magum still looked at Mari and Kari with a hard look. He then glances at Layla and sees how sad she looked. He then gives a sigh. "Fine… there won't be punishment for insubordination." A sigh of relief came from both Mari and Kari as they collapsed to the floor, giving each other a hug. Magum then gently takes the orb from Layla, smiling in satisfaction. "Now, my dear Layla Amelia, how about you come with me?"

Normally Layla would've been excited with her heart fluttering in chest a million miles an hour, but since Mari and Kari's statement about him and his talking about them having a punishment, she was a little uneasy. But nonetheless, she followed Magum. He led her to a room, and once she was inside she recognized that it was the room that she had slept in the first night.

His private quarters.

"You look exhausted," Magum stated as he set the orb on a special stand on a tall bookcase that was filled with journals and atlases.

"Uh… yeah… it was pretty difficult," she admitted.

He goes to her and saw the wound on her head. "Hmm, I should've taken you to the healer first, but I have a few things here…" he mumbled to himself as he went to another drawer and took out a syringe. He injects it in her arm and the serum goes through her body and she feels her head heal. "There, not as professional as a healer, but you should be fine nonetheless."

"Is it true?" Layla suddenly blurted out.

"About what?" Magum questioned, him curious.

"That you are a demon."

Magum gives a shrug, "A demon. A god. Whatever works."

Layla then sits on the bed, putting a hand to her head. Everything that was said about him was true. And now that she saw how he was ready to punish Mari and Kari just for thinking poorly of him, her heart had fallen to the pit of her stomach.

He sits down next to her, putting an arm on her shoulder. "I can't tell what you're thinking…" he comments, him confused. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I don't know anymore…"

He then suddenly puts a hand on her waist and gives her a kiss, which surprised her as she had never had that done to her before. He parts the kiss, her heart thumping in her chest and her face was blushing a deep crimson.

"Remember when you said that you want to make up to me for my kindness?" Magum whispered to her. All she could do was nod, just barely as she was stone stiff. "How about you start making it up to me?"

"Yes."

* * *

 **A/N:** Finally I got this done! Hopefully you guys enjoy a longer chapter!

Thanks for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~


	6. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

**Chapter 6: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing**

 _ **WARNING: There is scenes of intense violence and abuse. Although not fully described, it can be enough to make someone highly uncomfortable. Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with the subject of violence and abuse to someone.**_

 _ **Thank you.**_

* * *

The next morning Layla woke up in the silk-soft bed, her black hair sprawled over a pillow.

She hurt all over, finding bruises on her pale white skin. Layla sits up and the blanket that had covered her, her body bare but covered with dark purple bruises that were painful to the touch. But it wasn't as painful then what happened to her the night previous, although after a few minutes the pain turned into a great pleasure and it was easily ignored.

Layla looks to her left to see that Magum was not there, which made her heart fall. Where did he go? Then again he _was_ the head of everything here, so he had to be busy with things. She glances to over where the orb had stood the night previous to see that it was gone.

 _Maybe he went to tell the others…_

Layla gets out of bed, her legs nearly buckling out beneath her, and she puts her left hand to her pelvic area. Everything still hurt, but she had to get cleaned up as there were spots of blood on her legs. She looks around and finds a device that was similar to her room where a ladder would open to a bathroom beneath, and as she descended the ladder she winced at every movement.

 _I really wish I had those pain pills now…_

The bathroom was just as elegant as the room was. The floor was a solid black marble and the walls were a brilliant white that it seemed like they were producing their own light. There was no shower, just a very large obsidian tub that was built mostly into the floor with a small ledge that resembled a small pool. Multiple soaps lined the edge of the bathtub, some fragrances that Layla did recognize.

She starts to run the water after hitting the button to stop the water from draining, her letting it flow as she put a few drops of soap to create the bubbles. The bubbles released a scent of red roses, it filling the room along with the hot steam. The moment her body hit the water once it was done filling a sigh of bliss escapes her, her sore muscles unknotting. After bathing for about an hour she got out and wrapped a towel around herself.

Layla frowns, her realizing that she had no clothes that were hers. With a sign of irritation she knew she would have to go to her room and get clothing, so that meant she had to wear her "mission suit" again to do so.

She ascends the ladder, her body still a little sore but a lot more manageable after soaking. Just as she reached the top she saw that Magum was looking around. She shuts the door that led down below and he whipped his head toward her direction.

"Oh, there you are, my dear," Magum breathed almost with relief. "For a moment I thought you had gone."

Layla felt a little confused on why he would think that. "No… I just took a bath," she assured him, gesturing to the button. "I just got to get dressed and maybe head to my room to get fresh clothes."

"There's no need for that." Magum harshly snapped. "I can have them sent here."

"But…"

"There is no need." Magum repeated. He had taken a few steps toward her, towering over her in almost a threatening manner.

Layla arches a black brow. "Pardon?" she sputters. "I just want to get my clothes, maybe get something to eat, talk to Mari and Kari-"

Magum then punches the wall that was behind Layla, his fist leaving a hole. She gasped and flinched at the suddenness of it, ducking her head away from any debris. "If it were up to me those two would've been killed the moment they uttered those thoughts and words," he growled. "But you seem to care about them, so they were spared."

"How the hell can you even hear their thoughts when we were in a different sub-dimension?" Layla demanded.

Magum gives a short laugh. "Telepathic demon, remember?" he told her in a condescending tone. In a way he almost sounded like… her father. "I have everyone here equipped to enhance my abilities. Thanks to Dr. Bartek's research with installing metal plates onto the skulls of-"

"WAIT WHAT!?" Layla screamed, her going under his arm and getting away from the wall and striding multiple feet away from him. "What do you mean _'Dr. Bartek's research'_!?"

Magum smiles, a wicked wolf-like smile. "Oh… did I forget to mention to you that I _knew_ him?" he says to her, taking another step toward her, causing her to take a step back. "Look, my dear Layla Amelia, that bastard you call a 'father' has played both sides of the fence, making deals with myself and Bill Cipher. That's a _very_ dangerous game."

Layla backs up again, but her back hit another wall, her flinching and dropping the towel. Magum had gotten closer to her and put a hand on her bare waist, but she smacked his hand away. "I am _not your dear_!" she spat at him, her electric blue eyes narrowed angrily. "Mari and Kari were right… I was a _delusional_ girl! I thought you were actually nice to me! But you're not… you're… you're…"

"A wolf in sheep's clothing?" he offered, his wolf-like smile getting bigger as he forced his hand back onto her waist, but it was much more firm that she couldn't push it off of her.

"I was thinking along the lines of an 'Ass Hat'," Layla scoffed at him trying to force his hand away but to no avail. "But I guess that works too."

"Let's just say the few deals involved you," Magum breathlessly says as he pushed himself against her, causing her to yelp and try to get away from him. He grabbed her wrist and pins it over her head with his free hand. "I helped him along some research, he offered you. A few times I have met you, you just don't remember because of the times he drugged you."

Layla struggled against his grip, it getting tighter and tighter on her. She grunts in pain, trying to raise a leg to kick him away, but was pinned under his leg against the wall. "LET ME GO!" she screamed at him, grunting and using all her strength to try to get away from him.

 _You have been an ass-hat ever since you made contact with that Mag-_

Layla remembered that Rick was trying to mention Magum's name… he got smacked because of it. How could she be so stupid, trusting a demon just because he was nice to her?

 _That's a mask, you delusional human!_

"Shit…" Layla cursed under her breath. _How can I be so stupid?_

What seemed like amusement, Magum let go of her, causing her to fall to the ground with a loud thud. She scrambles to get up, wrapping herself with the towel. Her hand hovers by the handle of the door, but her wrist was grabbed one again.

"I don't think you understand," Magum almost purred. "I _own_ you, you simply can't walk away from this."

"Why would you take a deal involving me anyway!?" Layla spats, her blue eyes an icy fire. "I'm just a simple human and nothing special, so why take a dumb deal?!"

Magum shrugs. "I thought I could have some _fun_ with you, and as it turned out I was right," he smoothly replied, his words sounding heavy. "I'd say I made a good deal." The way he said that sent cold chills up Layla's spine. "But… as my little lamb you should stay where you are… and as punishment for trying to escape from me…"

A glint caught her eye but she didn't realize what happened until she started feeling her hot blood pour from a wound on her stomach. An intense burning followed afterward and she screamed in pain, putting her left hand on the wound, only to find that a red fire was licking across her fingers, both fully formed and not. She collapses to the ground, trying to preserve her life's blood, her gasping as a mixture of tears and sweat dripped off her face.

"Is my little lamb ready to listen now?" Magum lowly growled in her ear. "Or do you need another lesson?"

"Go… to… HELL!" Layla managed to get out between her gasps of intense pain.

He sighs almost sadly as he forces her up by her black hair, her yelping from it. He dragged her to the bed and threw her onto it, her blood barely noticeable on the red sheets. "You see, my dear Layla, I have been a place you humans would describe as 'Hell'… although much different than the humans' religious standpoint on it," he informed her as he towered over her from the side of the bed. He then puts a hand to her throat, and she felt her heart practically beat into his hand. Magum gave a small squeeze, which cut off Layla's air, her struggling for the sweet oxygen she desperately needed and to preserve her blood. "I will assure you that I have _no intentions of returning there._ And since you were _oh so kind_ as to remind me of that…"

Layla tried to scream to no avail as no oxygen could get to her lungs. Her vision began to darken as she saw a tinge of red in the corners. As her eyes fluttered shut the last thing she saw was Magum's wolf-like smile over her face, him ready to do what he did to her the night previous but on a much more violent scale.

* * *

Layla was covered in her own blood, it brown from drying on her pale skin, and her body felt like it was on fire, and intense burning that seemed to come from her heart.

Betrayal.

She sat up on the bed, her body laced with new bruises that were much darker and painful, as they were practically a red-purple. The wounds that she had received were now thick scars, the one on her stomach thick and risen, it feeling foreign under her fingertips. Her left hand had almost a shine to it as her hand was scared from the fire; the new scar went right along with the multiple punctures from the needles her father gave her.

But nothing hurt more than her heart, her putting her scared hand to her chest, feeling it thud slowly and almost painfully. Her heart seemed to ache painfully as tears stung her eyes, threatening to spill over. Never had she felt such a pain, it more painful than any hit or stab she had ever received.

Layla had thought she could trust him, she had thought he was legitimately nice to her. She had thought that she _loved_ him. But then again, she didn't know what "love" was… she never saw her father in love, or even her early memories of her mother really. She had given what Magum had wanted too easily and it sickened her to her very core, something that she wished she could take back but never could.

Because of her trusting a monster, a _demon_ , she had become nothing more than an appealing object to Magum. The way he had spoken to her made it seem like she was some sort of prize, and the way he threw her surname around to scare or enrage some people, she should've put together the puzzle to see that he was just playing a sick game with her.

It seemed that Magum was not in the room, so she got out of the bed, her collapsing to the floor in pain. If the first time was just a few aches and pains this was more of an intense stabbing in her pelvic region for the forced second time, causing her to wince and groan in pain. She blinks her eyes a few times trying to rid her tears, but as her vision cleared she saw a pair of hallow, pale blue eyes staring at her.

Layla screams and jumps right up, her back hitting the edge of the bedframe, a hand to her mouth to stifle her horror.

What lied before her was Magum's body… but was it truly?

Her head aches as she remembered her waking up a few times during her horrific ordeal. A reptilian-similar form with a fiery pelt with horns that branched out intricately with twists and knots… almost like the Devil himself.

What was in front of her was nothing but a husk of a poor being who had made a deal with demon.

Layla gets up from the floor while grabbing a blanket to cover herself, her avoiding the deceased body she was so used to seeing as "Magum", and heads to the shelf that had his books. She flips through them, only recognizing few words since her self-taught lessons at the library at the facility to learn the multidimensional language. What she did recognize was "bounded to the soul".

"Bounded to the soul…?" she repeated aloud, her heart hammering in her chest.

A hand gripped her shoulder and she screamed as she was spun around. The soulless white eyes of Magum peered into her electric-blue ones. It was him… but not him. He was in a different body, this one a little younger looking than his previous one, that was tall and dark in complexion, almost a deep tan, him adjusting a dress-shirt that was such a deep black it almost looked surreal.

"That's how demons possess vessels," Magum lightly explained, his voice coming out of the new body. He treated the situation as if he put on a new pair of pants, him with no concern at all. "Once a demon possesses a body long enough, the original soul eventually dies out and the demon's aura takes over, since we have no souls.

"However, the body does not last, only a year or two after the soul dies. What we are supposed to do is let the soul have control of the vessel once in a while to keep the soul intact so the body will last, it's supposed to be a symbiotic relationship with a deal between a vessel and a demon. But, that's not how I run things… I prefer to have the soul be tortured and basically rip itself apart trying to gain control." He finished explaining, him ending with a dark chuckle of humorless amusement. "This poor sap still had his soul, but after yesterday I let him have a break and he went and killed himself because he felt so horrible for what I did with his body. How pathetic."

"You sadistic _bastard_!" Layla screeched out, her adjusting the blanket to cover herself better. "You just toy with people!? Even if these are monsters of different forms of beings they are still living and not your _dolls to mess with!_ "

Magum gave her a mockery of a sympathetic glance. "I am one of the most powerful demons in the universe… my race was once one of the most powerful before a betrayal." He lowly growled, him taking a step closer to Layla, staring at her with hard white eyes. "All forms beneath me _are just dolls for my amusement._ And that does _include you_."

Layla's gave was level with his, a new feeling tingling across her body like electricity.

 _Hatred._

Never in her life had she felt such a feeling. She _hated_ Magum with such a burning passion that she didn't wish death on him. She wished that he was tortured to the brink of death but cannot receive it.

Magum then gingerly took the book from Layla's hand and puts it back on his shelf. "Now, my dear Layla Amelia, I need to get yourself ready, we have a meeting to go to," he ordered as he once again adjusted his shirt. "Damn it… this body is a little bigger than the last one, now I have to get new clothing." Magum seemed annoyed at the fact.

"With what clothes?" Layla pointed out, gesturing to her surroundings. "I don't have anything here." The demon then gestures to the bed where what looked like a long, black dress was and a pair of high-heeled shoes. Layla approached the clothing, her noticing how thin the material was.

"Now, go get ready." Magum ordered harshly.

Layla did as she was told, going down to the bathing chamber to clean herself up. Every time she touched her skin she winced and hissed in pain, her pale skin covered with bruises. She put on the clothing after being cleaned up, the dress feeling smooth and silky on her skin. The dress was long with a large slit on the left side the revealed her leg and almost exposed her hip, which made her extremely uncomfortable.

Magum then goes to the door and opens it. "Come along now, dear," he then says with a false gentleness. He put on a mask that almost seemed literal, his entire features changed from being terrifying to a gentle kindness.

Without a choice, Layla did as she was told by going to Magum's side. He put his hand on the small of her back, almost guiding her with him. She swallowed the bile that rose up her throat, forcing the little contents in her stomach to be released.

Layla was led down a long hallway, them entering a large open room filled with Magum's followers sitting in chairs. Magum and Layla walked on a stage where he stood behind a podium, forcing her to be by his side. She was sweating bullets in nervousness, she didn't like the idea of her being watched by so many people.

Immediately her eyes caught Mari and Kari in the crowd, them looking at Layla with confusion. Layla wanted to rush to them, to tell them that they were right and that she was sorry for saying that she didn't believe them. She noticed that the two were giving her a sympathetic look while holding each other's hands.

A spotlight was cast on both herself and Magum, her being so blinded that she noticed no one in the crowd no longer. She winced from the light as Magum began speaking in one of the foreign multidimensional languages that she was learning to recognize. He was saying on how thanks to the received plans that were stolen from Bill Cipher they would be able to counteract what he was planning on doing. Magum didn't go into detail on what Bill's plan was exactly, it seemed like he was trying to say as little about it as possible.

As the speech dragged on, Layla observed Magum. He seemed to have already gotten used to the new body, treating it as if he put on a newly bought shirt. He was flawless with his execution and the way he gestured, as if he had been doing it for years, which Layla knew that he has. A few times he gestured to her, and she wasn't sure why since she didn't fully understand him.

Everyone in the audience cheered, maybe except for Mari and Kari as far as Layla knew, the room roaring with a thunder of applause to the point that Layla winced from the loudness. She personally hated things being too loud, something that she had developed from being secluded in a cabin in the woods all her life, and she rather enjoy nature's sounds of rainfall and wind in the trees. Once the thunder of applause had subsided there was soft murmurs of the audience as they began to leave the large room, chairs shuffling on the hard floors.

"You lie to them." Layla stated, her not even phrasing a question. "You tell them you're going to do great things, but it's all an elaborate act."

Magum adjusts the sleeves of his shirt, them being a little too short. "My goal is to rule the universe, including the multiverse. I will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal," he replied casually as he led her off the stage though the back. "But I have two all-powerful beings to vanquish before that can become a reality."

"Bill Cipher?" Layla assumed. "He seems to be your biggest enemy."

"He won't be too much of a hassle," Magum assured her lightly. "My dear, there is something coming to him that he won't even begin to comprehend, so he will be ridden of within half a century."

Layla gave him a confused look. "Then… who is more powerful than you or Bill?" she asked slowly, her immediately noticing the anger that began spread across his features. Now she knew that she will be punished later for mentioning it.

"Axolotl."

Layla made a surprised sound. "Isn't that some kind of salamander?" she questioned, baffled at the fact that a tiny little creature would be more powerful than Bill or Magum.

Magum gripped her upper arm with such force that she cried out in pain from her arm beginning to crack. "The Axolotl isn't just some Earth creature!" he hissed in her ear. "It has the power to strip demons of their glory. I have been on the run from him for years, and so has Bill, the Axolotl isn't some cute little creature you humans like to play with!"

Layla nods frantically, agreeing with him so that he would release her arm. He did so and she grabs it gingerly, holding it close to her body as a sudden intense pain emerged from it, along with her arm turning purple and blue as it began to swell. Tears sprung to her eyes as she tried to move it slightly.

"You are to go straight to my quarters," Magum ordered sternly. "I will get medicine for you for your arm. You are to be in the bed waiting for me. If you are in anywhere else… well," he gives his signature wolf-like smile. "You know what will happen. I won't be so gentle next time."

Layla nods once again, trying to get out of his presence as fast as she could. He walked away as she ran the opposite direction. She had to try to get away… this was her chance! As she made her way through the hallways that she recognized, she was getting close to the lobby. Maybe if she could grab Mari and Kari they can all leave together, to get as far away from this place as they could.

As she made it to the lobby she was stopped by no other than Colonel. She skidded to a halt, her breaths coming in gasps. His black eyes bore into her body, seeing that she was extremely bruised and battered. For once his black eyes were actually sympathetic, as if he put two-and-two together of what was going on.

"You know you can't leave, right?" his gruff voice said to her, for once not filled with malice. "Once you become his pet the only way out is death."

"Then I'll kill myself." Layla instantly replied with no fear. Death was nothing compared what he was doing to her.

Colonel shook his massive head sadly. "No… he'll just resurrect you, it'll shave a few years off your life, but he'll do it just to punish you. I've seen it with another girl… the one triplet that was the sister of the two girls you went on a mission with."

"Sari?" Layla gasped. "But… but I thought she went with Bill and that's why the other two went to Magum…"

"Not at first," Colonel explained. "Sari first came here after Bill destroyed her and her sisters' home dimension that she had caused by making a deal with Bill. She thought she could get revenge on him for tricking her by going to Magum, but like with you he kept her by his side until she tried escaping and killing herself.

"Eventually, she did barely escape thanks to an attack by Bill. In a way she saw it as being 'rescued', so she went to Bill and stayed with him until…well…" he concluded.

"But Kari mentioned my father did something to her…" she mentioned, careful with her tone since Colonel already had a bad history with Dr. Bartek.

Colonel gives a sour look. "Dr. Bartek experimented with us… taking stem cell DNA from other creatures and placing it into others. Sari already had electrical powers, but her power was magnified thanks to an experiment by him. It nearly killed her, but after going with Bill she became one of his most powerful henchmen. Not too long after that's when Mari and Kari showed up."

Layla tried to remember back when they had first Sari. It seemed like everything she was doing was forced: a forced smile, a forced act of politeness. Was she truly happy with Bill? Probably not, but it seemed that he was better than Magum.

There was a sudden roar of anger as the building shook. Layla falls down on her but, her dress riding up on her. Colonel had fallen as well, his weight cracking the flooring. Red fire began licking the walls, almost like they were alive as they snaked around. Layla knew that she was in trouble… she spoke with Colonel too long when she could've escaped!

Appearing above her was Magum… but he had discarded the body that he was using as a vessel. He was the size of a normal muscular human, but his head looked reptilian with a pelt of a deep crimson that flicked round like flames. His horns were twisted like branches, since she was close she saw that engraved in his horns were symbols of something… and also scenes of torment and destruction etched into them.

Never had she felt so terrified in her entire life. She wanted to get up and run but her body refused to. She didn't dare breathe, she didn't dare blink, and she didn't dare to do anything. All she did was stare and be frozen.

Layla was grabbed by her injured arm, her screaming and kicking. Her eyes filled with tears as she tried to fight but she couldn't. She glanced at Colonel, desperate for any help, but as she did so a flame solidified as a solid blade and cut through his head like it paper. Colonel only blinked as blue blood sprayed from the wound and his head dropped to the floor, the body following soon after.

The raven-haired girl screamed in horror and pain as she witnessed the violent death, her being dragged by her arm. She barely noticed the frightened looks that was being received, all she could do was cry and try to struggle. Nothing was working, so she went limp to try to conserve her energy.

Soon, she was thrown back into the room, her body crashing into the ground painfully. She grunted, coughing through her sobs as her tears fell down her cheeks.

"I gave you _one_ order, Layla!" Magum furiously screamed, the room filling with intense red flames. "And you decide to ignore them… well…" There was a glint in his hand had with a clawed hand he threw the object toward her. What was tossed by her hand was a wickedly sharp knife. "Take off your clothing, stand up, look me in the eyes, and you will _slit your own throat._ " His voice was a low rumble, him trying to control his anger.

"What…!?" Layla managed to cry out, her hand brushing the knife.

"I want to see your blood stain your body!" he demanded. _"Now do as I say._ "

She cried out, "B-but that will _kill_ me!"

"You will be fine, I will heal you." Magum promised.

Layla gently picks up the knife, her seeing her own terrified electric blue eyes staring back at her in the brilliant, metal blade. She stood up shakily, her body trembling with fear. Her stomach was in knots and she felt like she wanted to vomit, but she swallowed the bile down and slowly removed her clothing like she was demanded to. Once her clothing was discarded from her body, she looked at the knife with a new fear.

Death.

She had said to Colonel that she would kill herself if that would mean to escape from Magum. But, now that there was a slight opportunity to do so, she didn't have the strength to do it. She wanted to _live_ , she wanted to _live and be free_.

 _"_ _Layla, I'm waiting."_

 _A wolf in sheep's clothing… that's what he is… he's a monster…_

Slowly, she raised the blade to her throat. Just touching her skin with the blade caused a small line to form and a tiny trail of scarlet to slowly drip. She takes a shaky breath and pressed harder, the blade digging into her skin.

 _Like a bandage… just do it fast and get it over with!_

Like pulling a cord to a parachute, she ripped the blade across her throat as deep and as fast as she could. A bright scarlet spilled, staining her pale body with the hot liquid. She gurgled as she struggled to keep her eyes open, her seeing a satisfied smile spread across Magum's devilish features.

Her vision began to darken and she felt her knees become wobbly. She struggled to breath, the iron laced scarlet filling her lungs instead of air. Layla coughed and choked, the blood pooling by her feet as it poured down her legs. Finally, she let the darkness take her and the last thing she felt was her own hot blood surrounding her body, pooling beneath her, as her mother's voice began echoing in her darkening mind.

 _A star that shines as bright as day, how I wish I did not go out to play, for the devil shadow had grasped my hand, the devil shadow pulled my soul and it was at his command._

 _So heed my warning young soul, please heed it with thole, and do not shake the devil shadow's hand, or forever your young soul shall be damned._

 _A star that shined as bright as day, now dim with the shadows I have helped taken with the devil shadow's command that are a dark grey, remember how the night holds a strange magic air, and how even something as bright as a star can take you to the devil shadow's lair._

* * *

 **A/N:** This chapter focused more on the abuse that Magum began to give to Layla. I am sorry if this was a little violent, but the next chapter is going focus on Layla escaping and living on her own, the the chapter after that will focus on her and Ford and how she developed feelings for him, although it was very difficult due to her experience with Magum.

Thank you for reading as always.

~Skye Hendersen~


	7. Jailbreak

**Chapter 7: Jailbreak**

Six long years in another dimension, five of them being nothing more than an object to a monstrous being, and each day was worse than the last.

Layla's nutrition was declining once again, her meals only coming in once a day, but most of the time she never ate, feeling just being in the presence of Magum was enough to make her vomit. Sometimes she ate little things that she would sneak in when she was forced to leave the room by Magum's side, something that felt like her own little anarchy.

The only advantage against Magum was that he could not read her mind, or force an illusion on her. And she knew that pissed him off to no end, him using whatever strength he could but failing. However, despite that little defense mechanism that she knew was from the metal plate in her head that her father had placed, it resulted her being maimed in more ways than one.

Her body was riddled with long streaks of scars, all by Magum's or her own hand with sharp knives. Some were in intricate patterns, like swirls or certain shapes, but most were random lashes of spite and anger. What stood out against her ghostly-white skin was the thick scar that was over her throat.

Layla placed her left hand over the scar on her throat. Her hand as well was riddled with scars, thick cuts and stabs as well and hideous burns over the nubs of her not fully formed thumb and pinkie. She sighs as she lowers her hand, it brushing against the snow-white lace gown she was wearing.

The lace gown itself was beautiful, a brilliant white with its lace patterns different snowflakes. Her jet black hair was braided like a crown around her head with a main braid going down the middle of her black on top of the hair that wasn't braided, her remaining hair almost being like a shadowy veil. Underneath her white gown she was wearing solid black underwear, them accenting her hips and breasts and clearly noticeable under the gown.

It honestly disgusted her that she had to wear this sort of thing to please Magum, to hopefully avoid punishment. This was the sort of outfit that a wife would share with a husband, but to her it was a cheap tactic to hope that when Magum had sex with her it wouldn't be terribly painful or violent. All she wanted to do was throw up and curl into a ball, but she knew she couldn't.

She had her game to play.

Three years prior was when she tried to escape from Magum's clutches on her. Due to an attack on the headquarters by some of Bill Cipher's henchmen they were all forced to move into a different sub-dimension. While traveling Layla tried to run, her feet running as fast as they possibly could. But, she was caught. She ran into a dead end and as punishment she was stabbed through her thoracic cavity to the dead end wall and was forced into the usual act that she went through almost every night.

That was when she decided her plan on playing her little game.

Layla became tactful on how she acted with Magum. She would show her usual disgust with him, but she would satisfy him in any shape or form to let down his guard. When his guard was let down was when the original soul of the body that Magum was possessing at the time to fight back and gaining control. This however only buys her a few minutes for her so she could read what she could of Magum's writings in order to find a weakness.

During those times whoever was the poor sap that had agreed to become Magum's vessel would desperately try to apologize to her for what they were forced to do to her. Each and every time they would cry out that it wasn't them, and after a while Layla began to ignore them. They would beg for forgiveness and she wouldn't listen, thinking that they deserved to feel like garbage for making a deal with a demon in the first place.

After about a year was when Magum discovered that she was using her body as an advantage to let his guard down. So after discovering it he went to have specific vessels just for her for when they were in the room together, vessels that seemed to enjoy being forced on her. She kept her act up though, to give satisfaction so that she would never see Magum's true form ever again.

Layla shivered in fear at the memory of the sight.

The door opened, causing Layla to hide the book she was reading as she rushed to the bed, hiding it on her side within sheets. She laid down with her head propped on her hand, trying to make it look as if she wasn't snooping around.

Magum entered the room, his vessel a little dressier and not one of his normal ones that he uses on her. He wore a suit and tie, him at a recent meeting, his dark hair slicked back and neat looking. He looked like he would be a very handsome man if it weren't for those soulless white eyes.

 _And his damn personality._

"My, my, Layla," Magum smiles lustfully. "What is the occasion here?" His voice was smooth and calm, and he was actually pleased at what she was doing.

"Nothing," Layla lied, her voice equally just as smooth. Over the years she had learned to lie and manipulate in order to survive.

Magum undoes his tie, a thick blood-red ribbon, and casted it off to the side. "At least I have a pretty sight after all the shit that happened today."

"And… what was that?" Layla then asked, truly curious, a fake smile plastered on her lips.

"Well, when half your followers are complete incompetent idiots and you had to slaughter them like cattle, I need something a little better to look at to get rid of thought of blood," he said casually as if it were nothing.

Layla's fake smile falters. "Wait… _what_!?" she shouted as she jumped from the bed. "Why… why would you kill your own followers!? That makes _no sense_!"

Magum snapped, "It doesn't have to!" He then approached Layla, him putting a hand to her cheek. She tried her hardest not to flinch from the touch or repulse away. "It shows power, and that's all I'm about."

"Of course," Layla falsely agreed, her stepping away from Magum and going to sit on the bed. "But… don't you think killing them will convince others to join Bill?"

Magum slams a fist into the wall of the room, making a hole as some debris crumbled down. "You know not to speak of that pathetic dream demon in my presence," he growled lowly.

Layla averts her eyes from him, knowing that he was now upset. "Sorry," she apologized as she put her hands in her lap.

It seemed that action softened Magum a bit. "Oh, my dear, you look adorable when you're a little frightened," he told her as he sat next to her. He then raised a hand and caressed her cheek, her wanting nothing more than to slap it away and spit in his face. "But, my dear Layla Amelia, I need you to get ready."

Layla's heart raced. "Ready for what?" she slowly asked with curiosity.

"We need to head out to a smaller training facility to oversee how Keigh is doing with the training." Magum explained as he went to a dresser and picked out a different shirt and pants, something that was much more casual. "Although, I _do_ enjoy you being dressed like that, maybe we can-"

"You don't want to be late for your meeting." Layla interrupted as she gladly went to a small dresser that was designated as hers, filled to the brim with lingerie and long dresses. She chose a dress that was a little short, but it was easy to maneuver in if given the opportunity. She was fully dressed within a few minutes, her wearing flats, once again it was easy to run in if given the opportunity.

"Ready, my dear?" Magum asked as he held open the door for her.

She nodded confidently, her giving herself a pat down to make it look like she was smoothing out her dress. In reality she had hidden the small book that she was reading, Magum's journal, within her clothing. For some reason she had a feeling she was going to need it.

The new facility that they had to transfer to was much like the old one, except the sub-dimension that they were in had a much lower oxygen content, her having to take certain injections a couple of times a day to help her body adjust to the lack of oxygen. The walls as they walked were a brilliant white, a great contrast to the dark navy dress that Layla was wearing.

A few minutes later they were in the large training room, monsters fighting each other to train their combat skills. In one corner some beings were there training their powers, two people that Layla recognized as Mari and Kari, her being extremely ecstatic that they were still alive. Weapons were being fired and grunts of effort from the training soldiers, the room brimming with noise, but it all went to a hush when Magum entered the room.

"Hello, all," Magum greeted as he entered the room, an arm looped with Layla's. "Keigh, I would like to know how everything is going here. I need a full on report."

Keigh made his way to Magum, his gray skin damp with perspiration. His dark blue eyes, sclera and all, wide with surprise. The last person who was in charge of the training was Colonel, but he was brutally murdered five years ago, so Keigh was extra careful on how he spoke and presented himself to Magum.

"Master Magum," Keigh nervously greeted. "What a pleasant surprise. I-I thought evaluation was _next_ week-"

"There has been a change of plans, Keigh." Magum stated firmly, his voice low and almost menacing sounding, a deep rumble that seemed to vibrate through the very floors. "What I need now is an army able to charge into Bill Cipher's Nightmare Realm and be able to fight. Is that clear?"

Keigh's eyes widened like saucers, his body trembling. "R-r-right n-n-n-now?" he stammered softly. "But… b-b-but we aren't-"

"Well, you all should be!" Magum roared, a red flame enveloping him, causing Layla to jerk her arm away from him before she got a burned, a thing that had happened once or twice in the past. "At any moment you should all be able to fight."

Keigh then swallowed hard and looked sternly at Magum. "Sir, I would have soldiers for you if you hadn't _killed_ them earlier." Keigh levelly said, his dark blue eyes hard.

Magum looked then surprised, as if the information was new to him. "Oh, my, of course, my apologies," Magum casually replied, him giving off false incompetence. "I had _no_ idea…" He then snaps his fingers and Keigh collapsed to the floor, his body combusting into violent, red flames. Layla gasped at the sight, her hands covering her mouth, as she saw the skin split open and blood began to spurt out. Magum then looked at the audience, him not even phased at Keigh's screams of pain before silenced by his death. "Now… who is ready to fight?" The remaining soldiers in training stood up tall, shoulders back, as if they had rods placed in their spines. Magum gives a satisfied grin, almost devilish. "Alright then, get ready to make a move on."

Layla raises a black brow, the twenty-two year old confused on way Magum wanted them to fight so much. "Um…" she managed to squeak out, her old timid way of speaking creeping up on her. "Why… why are you sending them out?" she asked Magum curiously, already feeling the fear icing her heart as she saw his features twist and darken with anger.

"A test," he simply replied, turning his back to her and walking forward, him stepping and crumbling the burnt body of Keigh.

 _What kind of test…?_

* * *

A few hours later Layla was dressed in a full body black jumpsuit, much similar to the one she wore five years ago on her mission with Mari and Kari, her jet black hair tied back into a wavy ponytail.

She had no idea why she was dressed in it, but Magum insisted. As she gotten dressed she had to hide Magum's journal within her clothing once again, it being uncomfortable against her skin. Layla stood next to Magum's side, him dressed in a much similar attire to hers, his soulless white eyes looking hard as he glared over the small, pathetic army that were squabbling before him.

Layla didn't understand this plan, thinking about what Keigh said about how they weren't as trained. If they were about to fight, then they would be slaughtered like cattle. There was no point, but obviously Magum had one, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

 _Unless he wants them to die…_

That was the only plausible thing that Layla could think of, that Magum wanted these people to die for him. Charging into the Nightmare Realm would be suicide if you didn't have one simple goal to rush to. Her goal was to grab the plans and leave, which she did with a couple of snags. But to fully charge into a warzone with no purpose? That made no sense…

"You seem to be nervous, my dear." Magum silkily remarked, his warm breath tickling her ear to the point that shivers ran up her spine.

"I'm trying to figure out what your plan is…" Layla honestly replied, thinking that he was going to find out eventually.

"All an elaborate game," he told her, his wolf-like smile returning. "I'm just biding my time until another phase emerges."

Layla looks at him oddly, not fully understanding.

"There are only two beings that have the ability to stop me," Magum explained lowly, only for her to hear. "One is Bill Cipher, and the other is the Axolotl. Getting rid of Bill Cipher will be easy since the Axolotl had made a special spell for him…"

"Spell?"

"A wheel." Magum gives her a small smile, one that almost looked innocent if she hadn't known who he truly was. "A wheel filled with symbols of people that represent them, their own natural energy is enough to activate it. And once an incantation is made…" Magum snaps his fingers. "Poof… back into the Dream Dimension… or, well, what's left of it."

Layla felt intrigued that she was given this information. But at the same time… she felt terrified. Did that mean her use to him was coming to an end?

"The Dream Dimension…?" Layla inquired. "What does that mean?"

Magum sighed, clearly annoyed, "Just like is sounds, a dimension filled with the Dream Demons. My race had its own dimension as well…" He almost looked sad, but then he gave a sinister grin, flames flickering off his fingers, as if he was thinking of something pleasurable. "Demons aren't as abundant as they used to be, many with demonic abilities now are just watered down genetics from breeding."

Layla didn't like the way he said "breeding".

"I… I have a serious question…" Layla whispered to him, all fear from before evaporating, her curiosity got the best of her. During her years of imprisonment, she did end up getting her period, a week of the most uncomfortable pain from just trying to lie down, but it was the only time of the month that Magum doesn't mess with her. "How come from us… I've never gotten pregnant?" Just the idea made her want to perform a hysterectomy on herself, not even wanting to think of any plausible idea of her carrying his child.

Magum gave her a look as if he was a parent busting the myths of sex. Again, he was treating her as a child, which irritated her to no end. "My dear Layla Amelia, you are human, you simply can't become pregnant from other dimensional beings. Now, if I possessed a human male, then yes you can become pregnant with a child with my genetics. But, think about it, my dear, an Earth cat and an Earth dog cannot have an offspring together. The same thing applies here."

Layla gives a satisfied nod, her extremely glad that there was no risk.

Magum then steps forward, approaching his pathetic army. The followers scrambled to stand up straight for him, fearing that they would meet the same fate as Keigh. As Magum approached one by one he simply said with a calm, yet bellowing voice to be carried across the room, "Now, we are about to enter the Nightmare Realm, and just so I make myself perfectly clear, you are all going to die, there is no doubt about it."

A chilled hush filled the room, the untrained followers with wide eyes. Magum almost looked satisfied at the sight.

"What the plan is here is to make Bill Cipher think he as 'defeated' me," Magum had raised his fingers into quotation marks and said the word "defeated" with heavy sarcasm. "That way, the next few decades I can bide my time until he is out of the picture completely, then the Axolotl will be the next ultimate target." He observed each of the faces of his followers, smiling at the fact that these beings were trembling with fear.

 _That's why he killed the stronger ones… It was so they wouldn't have a fighting chance!_

The idea of this plan sickened her to the pit of her stomach. Her stomach churned painfully at the realization. She glances at Magum, his terrible wolf-like smile dominant in his features, it practically looked like his soulless white eyes were glowing with an energy, as if they were absorbing the life of the innocent beings before him. Bile rose up her throat, but with a slight grimace she swallows it, the acid burning her throat.

"Let's move out," Magum ordered confidently, him opening a small portal with a simple wave of his hand. A scenery was shown that Layla was familiar with, a dark abyss with just a golden pyramid floating in the distance. "Sorry all, but it will be a joy to watch you all be torn limb from limb, but do try to keep up a good fight to make it look convincing!"

"You're an asshole!" one monster called from the group, a fist shaking in the air. "We aren't toys for your amusement!"

Magum's eyes with callous, his smile faltering. His voice was harder than stone when he said with a deep rumble, "Frankly, yes you are. You are a lowlife being beneath me, and you shall die as such."

One by one the army went through the portal, each looking grim and depressed. A few tried to escape, but as soon as they stepped out of line their heads combusted with intense red flames and their heads expanded with pressure, popping and spewing blood and gore on the neat floors.

Layla's heart pounded her chest, feeling horrible that these people were about to die for a sick game Magum was playing. She couldn't help them, all she could do was watch as her hands were in tight fists. Layla eyed each person, praying to whatever she could think of that she wouldn't see Mari and Kari in the crowd. Fortunately, they were not there which made her do a small sigh of relief.

Lastly Magum was about to enter through the portal, taking Layla by her upper arm. She grimaced as his hand wrapped fully around and dragged her through with him. She still didn't understand why she was dressed the way she was and why she had to go, but right now she could only think of two things.

 _Chaos. Escape._

If she could escape during the bloodshed, she could be free. But then again… it was the Nightmare Realm, how do you escape the Nightmare Realm if you didn't know where the natural portals were?

From what she had read in Magum's journals, the main dimension they were in had about five-hundred sub-dimension. Each entry to the sub-dimension has two function natural portals that will open between the weak points of the dimensional wall, which in turn allows for easy access. However, some portals don't open on a regular schedule, some could takes as simply as an hour to open or for extreme cases millennia. The Nightmare Realm she had no idea what it would be… with her luck it would be one of the millennia ones.

As her body went through the portal Layla felt her insides shrink and expand with pressure, her feeling violently sick to her stomach. The feeling came and went quickly, now her standing at Magum's side on a small solid platform that only held them two. In front of her on another solid platform was the pitiful army, them cowering from the edges, below nothing but shadow moving within shadow.

Magum waves his hand, the platform extending to create a bridge to head toward the glowing pyramid. "Now… we let the fun begin," he whispered with such giddy that he almost sounded mad.

The army moved along the bridge, them getting closer and closer to the pyramid. Magum followed suit with Layla in tow on their own platform, it levitating as they made their way to the pyramid. Layla had an uneasy feeling in her stomach, she did not like this one bit.

All Magum did then was open his palm, a brilliant, dark red fireball appeared and he tossed it at the pyramid, the exterior becoming licked with flames. Something came from the pyramid, a large glowing triangle as it flew above the pyramid.

Bill Cipher.

Bill still had his single eye in the center, his top hat sitting proudly on his head, his black bow tie neat. He held a cane in his left hand, and it looked as though he was very surprised. His one eye turned angry, as the eye became black and his slit pupil became red, his body becoming red with a white glow around his perimeter.

" _REALLY, MAGUM?!_ " Bill roared, his voice low and demonic sounding, no longer the high shrill that Layla was used to. "You seem to really itching for a fight aren't ya!?"

"Oh, come now, Bill!" Magum laughed, his hand still gripped on Layla's arm. "We both knew that this was a long time coming."

"I was in the middle of dinner you jerk!"

Magum sighed. "Same old Bill, putting his priorities in the wrong order…"

"I'LL SHOW YOU WRONG ORDER!" Bill roared angrily. "BY PUTTING YOUR FACE IN THE WRONG ORDER!"

The pyramid doors opened and revealed a group of about ten monsters. Bill's personal henchmen. Layla recognized the one that had attacked her the last time she was there. Despite Bill having ten monsters to Magum's hundreds, Layla knew that Magum's army was going to be slaughtered.

"What I'm going to do Layla is send you inside the pyramid," Magum whispered in her ear softly. "Once inside I need you to find out every bit of information about Axolotl and Bill's wheel. I will distract Bill as the armies fight. Understood?"

Layla didn't want to, but if it was a chance to be alone so she can escape, then she would take it. She nods, almost too enthusiastically, which gave Magum a satisfied grin.

"I'm just letting you know that there is no way for you to escape the Nightmare Realm without me… so even if you try you will not succeed." Magum warned her, seemingly guessing her plan. "So if you _do_ try, there will be punishment."

Witout another word, Layla was tossed into the crowd of the monsters, both sides already beginning their fight. Layla landed on her arm, it almost snapping from her socket, but she shook it off as she darted up, trying to dodge through the crowd. Overhead she saw red and blue lights flashing, knowing that Magum and Bill were battling with their powers.

Layla had one mission, and like it or not she had to do it.

She ran up the bridge to get her to the pyramid, the door still wide open. Layla rushed inside and slammed the door behind her, just in time for something crash into the door with a loud thud. Her heart hammered in her chest, the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

Layla ran through the marbled hallways, ignoring every tapestry depicting Bill in a dominant glory. She saw one that depicted him on a wheel, a small one that looked like a small blanket. Bill of course was in the center, around him showing ten symbols: a pair of glasses, a question mark, a bag of ice, a crescent, a pine tree, a star with an eye in the center, a six-fingered hand, a llama, a shooting star, and a stitched heart.

Layla figured that this must be the wheel that the Axolotl created to banish Bill. She grabs the tapestry, it falling from the wall, and she folds it up as small as she could. In one of her pockets on her suit she found some rope, her using it to tie around the folded tapestry so that it wouldn't come undone.

 _One thing down… now to find information on the Axolotl._

Slowly, Layla walked through the massive corridors, her feet gently tapping the hard floors, soft echoes bouncing off the walls. With soft creaks she opened doors, trying to get a sense of what was inside and if anything had information. Many were rooms of Bill having statues of himself arranged all over, causing her to had a deadpanned look on her face as she shut each door.

Layla rounded a corner, ready to find yet another hall filled with the narcissistic triangle's image, but all she saw was a single figure. The figure dressed in almost futuristic attire, it wearing nothing but black with goggles on its face with a scarf to cover features. A hood was over its head as well, so Layla couldn't tell if the figure even had hair.

"Hello?" Layla called gently, seeing that figure did not move. "Do you, I don't know, have any idea where I can find information on the Axolotl?" She figured that it was worth a shot to ask.

All the figure did was tap on the side of its head.

"What, so you _do_ know?" she demanded, her tone turning hard. "Can you tell me?"

Another tap to the side of its head.

"Okay, now you're just pissing me off!" Layla then rushes to the figure, figuring that maybe if she caught it the figure would tell her the information.

As she ran close the figure, it flawlessly dodged, it grabbing Layla by her arm and propelling her to the wall. Her body collides with the wall, her yelping in pain as she slid down. The figure stood over her, it about twice her size. Once again it tapped the side of its head.

Subconsciously, Layla lifted her hand to the temple that the drill from her father's lab pierced her skull. It still had a small bump from the metal filling the hole that was drilled into.

"Are you saying… _I_ know what it is…?" she asked softly, her voice trembling.

There was a slight nod as the figure raised a hand, small black blaster revealed. It aimed the blaster at the wall and pulled a trigger, the wall suddenly having a small circle of blue light with swirling energy within it.

"A… a portal…!?" Layla gasped. "What the hell is the meaning of _THIIIISSSSSS!?_ " Her body was pushed into the portal, her voice echoing in the room as she forced through. Her body felt rearranged once again, but this time the feeling was more familiar. Her body fell onto a concrete ground, her still screaming the word "this" as she slowly stopped to see where she was. Layla groaned in pain as her electric blue eyes darted around. "I'm… out of the Nightmare Realm…?"

It looked as though she was in a sub-dimension with a business district. Merchants were at stands trying to sell their wares as she saw creatures that looked like small squids walking around and pointing at stands that they wanted to visit.

"How… how is this possible…?" A large smile then spread across her face, her body tingling with a sudden happiness and relief. "I'm… _free_! I'M FREE! OH MY GOD, I'M FREE!" Layla started laughing joyously as she got strange looks from the patrons of the new dimension, but she did not care, she was free from Magum.

With a new hope in her heart, she started walking through the merchant's market, seeing what new world she was in. She did not care what it took, she will survive on her own and not fall into the clutches of Magum, or Bill, or _anything_ every again.

She wasn't a naïve teenager anymore, she was young woman with a new purpose: Survival.

Layla walked by a stand that had a long trench coat that was a solid black. There was a distracted merchant, so she took it and continued on walking. After a minute or two she slipped it on, her grabbing a few other things that were lying about, the skills that she picked up from being Magum's prisoner coming into play. She had snatched some perishables, a long sleeved purple shirt, a black pair of pants, and she managed to find a knife.

She went into an alley way and switched out of the body suit that she was wearing before. Layla felt much more comfortable in the shirt and pants, her keeping the knee high boots since she honestly thought they were very nice. She moved Magum's journal and the small tied up tapestry into the inside coat pockets, them protected from the outside world. What she did next was take her hair out of the ponytail and used the knife to cut her hair to shoulder length, the stray feathered hair framing her face.

She wasn't a prisoner anymore.

"I'm Layla Amelia Bartek," she lowly said to no one in particular as she found a pair of fingerless gloves that were a solid black in the pocket of the trench coat, surprised that they were fit for a being with five fingers on each hand. "I am a survivor, and I _don't care how I will do it._ " She strapped the knife to her side, ready for it to be whipped out for any reason.

Layla then leaves the alleyway, her ready to go celebrate her jailbreak.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello everyone! This chapter was a bit difficult to write, but I finally got it done! So, I think we all know who the figure was ;)

But yes, the next chapter will feature Layla traveling the dimensions, and it will even feature how she became an alcoholic. Then the chapter after that will feature her meeting Ford and how she slowly fell for him.

Thanks for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~


	8. Personal Demons

**Chapter 8: Personal Demons**

She sat in an alleyway of some backwater dimension that she had happened to stumble upon, a large bottle of some clear drink in a glass bottle, her back to the wall as her left knee was upwards and her right leg sticking straight out.

Layla took a swig of the bottle, her coughing and choking at the sudden burn that stung her throat. She did it a few more times, forcing herself to drink it, the corners of her vision blurring. Her stomach burned as the liquid sat in the pit of her stomach, the only thing that she had consumed that day, her heading starting to spin as she felt nauseous.

Alcohol.

Layla had never had a drop of alcohol in her life, not after seeing the way her father would be piss drunk and took out his ager on whatever was available, which many times included herself. However, her sleep was haunted by Magum's presence, although he cannot read her mind in any way, the way he talked to her, touched her, _abused_ her haunted her nightmares as she bolted awake in cold sweat.

She wanted to forget.

Layla tried to take another swig of the bottle, her groaning in disappointment that the bottle was empty. She threw the glass bottle to the wall across from her, it shattering like her innocence. It made her vomit thinking that she had let him do that to her, something that was supposed to be sacred, and she gave it away like it was nothing. It sickened her, but alas there was nothing she could do to change it.

So, she had to move forward.

Although… her way of "Moving Forward" was not very healthy.

Layla stood up drunkenly, her body swaying as she tried to grip the wall for support. A step forward and she practically collapsed onto the ground, but she shook her head and held her ground. She needed more, she could still recognize what was happening, she wanted to black out and be oblivious to everything.

The raven-haired woman stumbled out of the alleyway, greeted by others that were in a similar situation to her. They all stumbled about, wandering into the streets and almost getting hit by some kind of vehicle. Layla's problem was that she didn't have any money, but it didn't stop her from getting what she needed, or in this case wanted. Normally she would pickpocket for some money, but most of the time she stole in shops and stuffed them into her long trench coat that she enjoyed having.

So she stumbled into a shop that sold alcohol, drunks at the counter trying to pay with barely any money to cover the tab. With that kind of distraction the patrons that were in the back of the store began stealing and waltzed right out, leaving the poor shopkeeper stressed and robbed. Layla had snagged a few more bottles of alcohol for herself, some being different kinds than others, trying to give herself variety.

During her travels, she had found natural portals that would lead her to different dimensions, something she had discovered before but now applied a lot more. Sometimes her thoughts go back to that portal that was shot from the gun that the figure had that had saved her. Who was it? Was it her father or someone else? It had to have been her father, what other human would be in a different dimension?

Layla walked out of the shop with her new alcohol, ready to find a place to sleep for the night. It had been a few months since escaping Magum, and she had a feeling that he was searching for her, ready to punish her for leaving. But she had grown more street smart, and was able to hide quite flawlessly. She had acquired herself a scarf and a pair of goggles to cover her face, she also wore a trench coat that didn't cling to her body so she wouldn't be recognized as a female.

Finally, she had found the alcove that she had slept in the previous night. She never understood how the alcoves were made, but she knew that her father had done them, she made a few herself but it was easier to find one. What she could tell was that it was a false wall on some but on others it was like a hologram to see outside but not inside. The ones with the false walls were much warmer than the hologram ones, and she could tell the ones that were the hologram ones got occupied by other residents of the dimension, seeing that they were usually a mess.

Layla had found the one with a false wall, her collapsing into the pitiful pile of thing blankets and flat pillows. She was tired and drunk, but she popped open another bottle and began drinking. Her vision blurred more and more, her head spinning, she barely even remembered what she was doing and where she was. Once the bottle was fully drunk at an alarming rate, she passed out, the glass rolling of her hand and hitting the ground with a loud crash as glass shattered.

The amount of alcohol was apparently not enough. Her dreams were still haunted by his hands touching her body, forcing her into the acts that she wished to not do. His dark laugh echoed in her mind, that wolf-like smile…

* * *

 _"_ _Hello there, little one, what is your name?" The scene was the living room of her home, a little girl sitting in the couch with her black hair tied in side ponytails. The girl had given the dark blonde male oddly, the eyes a soulless white._

 _"_ _Daddy… you know who I am…" the little girl had responded, fright in her voice._

 _"_ _Ah, you are Dr. Bartek's daughter… Layla, is it?" the man remarked._

 _"_ _Daddy… you're scaring me…"_

* * *

Layla bolted awake, her head pounding painfully in her head as her stomach churned, forcing her to vomit to an empty space next to her.

Slowly she was remembering her from when she was younger, just like Magum had said. Layla had been drugged so many times growing up that many things were forcibly blocked out so she wouldn't remember. And who knew that her first meeting with Magum she felt uneasy and frightened. Her father was a vessel for Magum at one point, which sickened Layla ever more.

Layla had to keep moving, her gathering what little items she did have and continue on her way. The more she moved the more she knew that Magum couldn't find her, her only advantage was that he could not read her mind. She wondered if it had something to do with the metal plate placed in her head, if her father used some different material to the one that Magum had implanted in his followers to amplify his powers.

At that point she didn't care, all she wanted to do was forget and keep moving.

Along the way to another portal that she knew would open Layla stole a few more bottles of alcohol, plus a few food items so she could actually eat something to vomit. Layla went into an alleyway and saw the small portal open, her running to it, she had stayed in that dimension for far too long; she had to move forward.

` Layla went through the portal expertly, her used to the odd sensation of being pulled in every direction. Once on the other side of the portal she saw that she was in a beach-like setting, the water a sparkling purple. The only problem was the air… she couldn't breathe.

Her hands went to her throat, her feeling as if she was suffocating. That was the problem of not knowing what dimension you are going to, you don't know if it was a place that a human could actually survive. Layla tried to move forward, but she ended up collapsing, her body already from lack of oxygen.

"Help…" she managed to choke out before she passed out.

* * *

Layla woke up something soft, a thick blanket over her, but what caught her by surprise was that there was a mask over her nose and mouth, her breathing normally.

She looked around to see that she was in some kind of cave, small fires around the cavern to illuminate a small form of light. Shadows danced on the walls from the flames, the space feeling alive. The raven-haired woman moved her head side to side to see if she could find her savior.

She sat up, seeing that the mask cord lead to a small machine that hummed slightly. It looked as though it was converting the air into something she could breathe to survive. Finally, she saw that something moved by a fire, casting a large shadow on the stone walls. Her hands tightened into fists, ready to fight if necessary.

What appeared before her was the hooded figure that was from Bill's pyramid.

Layla's heart pounds in her chest, seeing that partially the scarf was removed and it too was wearing an oxygen mask. She stood up, her going into a defensive position. The figure made no move, it standing there with no action to fight or defend.

"Who are you?" she called out, her voice sounding distorted from the mask. "Why are you helping me?"

All the figure did was tap the side of its head.

"You better tell me who the _hell you are or-!"_

The figure pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment and slowly walked up to her. It extended a hand, trying to give her the parchment. Gingery, she took it and unrolled it, seeing that it was some kind of guide to the natural portals. There was also a name written in the corner with a small message: Contact Kerum.

"Are… are you this 'Kerum' person?" Layla sked gently. The figure shook its head "no". "Then… who are you?" Again the figure shook its head. It then went into the pocket of its trench coat and pulled out a small device, it looking like a small black box. The figure then pointed at her face mask and then at the humming machine. "That's… a portable one?" she asked, trying to get a definite answer. There was a nod. She took it gingerly and observed the item, intrigued that it could potentially save her life at some point. "Thank you…" she told the figure. "So… where do I find this 'Kerum'?"

The figure then handed her another rolled up piece of parchment. Layla unrolled it and saw that it was another map with various bars from different dimensions. She guessed that those would all be places that Kerum would be in, so that was her next stop to find a portal that lead to one of these places.

When she looked up from the map, the figure was simply gone. Layla still had no idea who it was and why it was helping her. She got up from her resting spot and removed the mask from the machine. Immediately she felt that she was suffocating, so she quickly attached the mask to the portal one.

"Time to move."

* * *

It was the fifth bar that she had traveled to, and of course she was piss drunk, her nearly falling over from her chair as she ordered drink after drink.

Where ever she went they still served her, not particularly caring that she was already drunk. She took whatever alcohol was available, taking shots and downing pints. It honestly was making her sick to her stomach, but of course she wanted to forget her past with Magum, so she continued to force it.

Finally, there was a tap on her shoulder, her drunkenly turning to see a large being that was covered in a thick black cloak, the hood over its head. It was much larger than the figure, so she knew it wasn't it. The large being removed its hood, reveling that it was a large rat-looking being, with yellow fangs and black fur and beady red eyes. The appearance shocked Layla so much that she jumped, spilling her current drink all over herself.

The creature spoke in an odd language, but she only recognized one word, "Bartek".

"I'm… I'm his d-d-d-daughter… L-L-Layla…" she sputtered, her words slurred and heavy with alcohol. "A-a-are you, K-K-Kerum?" she then asked, her asking for another drink by raising a hand, another glass soon appearing in front of her. The monster then moved the drink away. "HEY!" It then grabbed her and dragged her out of the bar, her shouting, but no one paid her no mind.

Once they were outside and in an alleyway, the monster spewed another list of words, her hearing the word "Kerum". She nodded, understanding that the creature pinning her to the wall was indeed the contact that the figure told her to meet. He then handed her a small gray device, it having a screen and a few buttons. He then also handed her a piece of paper, a list written in English for her gather that oddly looked like familiar handwriting, which included many documents and plans.

"What's this…?"

"Bill… Cipher."

"What about him!?" Layla spat, her suddenly angry, her body feeling hot. If it were for him… then her father wouldn't have made deals with demons… she wouldn't have sold herself to Magum. "Do you speak English or not!?" The alcohol was affecting her anger, it amplifying.

"Very… few…" Kerum stated. "Since… your… last…" he then struggled to find the word he wanted. "…encounter with… Magum, Bill Cipher… had taken over the main dimension… this… one."

Layla's electric blue eyes widened. "What… do you mean?" she asked in a shocked whisper. Kerum then waved a cloaked hand like he was trying to express that he didn't know the words to explain to her. "Oh… okay, sorry…"

"Read… ciphers…?" he then asked.

"Ciphers…?" Layla echoed. She then nodded. "Yes… I know a few from being around… M…" she didn't even want to say his name. Kerum nodded and wrote down a few instructions and passed it along to Layla. She began to decode it slowly, her realizing that it was a list of books for her to read to learn various languages in the multiverse. She growled to herself, annoyed that it had to be required of her so she had better contact with Kerum. He then wrote another cipher for her to decode, it reading that they would to meet in that same bar in one month. "Okay, we will meet in one month…" she agreed, her taking another swig of alcohol.

* * *

A month came and went, getting more and more information from Kerum, her learning the languages of the multiverse.

During that time she had gotten drunk constantly. Her feeling as if she was going to bed and then waking up still drunk. It really bothered hear that she would black out but when she woke up she would still remember everything about Magum. Some days when she didn't drink, but she ended up getting tremors from being addicted and would get chug down a few bottles to satisfy herself.

Her eyes had a constant glaze on them, as is though she wasn't fully there. Her black hair looked pretty dull, as if there weren't enough nutrients to it. If she had been extremely pale before now she looked like a translucent grey, as if she were sick. Sometimes she barely had the energy to leave one of the alcoves or a warehouse she happened to be staying in, instead just sleeping and drinking.

One night while she went to meet with Kerum, she stumbled down the streets, her right hand gripped around a liquor bottle and her left gripped around a book filled with different languages and scrap pieces of paper from her practicing.

"Hey, there's one!" she heard someone call out in a now familiar language. Layla rolled her eyes drunkenly and kept walking, her going into an alleyway. "Hey, girly!" another one called out. She ignored it. Suddenly, there was grip on her shoulder and then was spun around, facing a patron that looked as though they were a burned rat. The first one that spoke to her then bared yellow teeth, it took looking like some kind of burned rodent, "Hey, when we call to ya, ya stop? Got it?"

"I don't give a flying shit damn…" Layla muttered drunkenly, her trying to push them away.

"Oi, she's drunk!" the second one laughed happily. "We can probably really daze her and take her to the-!" He was then punched in its snout, the bottle of liquor shattering as the monster screamed in pain as glass cut into its fragile looking skin.

She growled menacingly, "I am _not_ going anywhere!"

The one that had grabbed her before tried to take a swing at her, but despite being drunk she dodged it. She quickly, and clumsily, took out her gun that she had received from Kerum. She aimed it at the monster and without a second thought pulled the trigger. A dark purple substance escaped the monster, it splattering to the floor as the body collapsed. The one she had punched then grabbed a knife and went after Layla. She didn't notice the glint until it was too late as was stabbed through her left shoulder.

Layla screamed in pain, but she managed to kick the monster away from her. She grabbed the knife from her shoulder and threw it to the ground, it clattering. She raised her gun again, seeing the monster put both hands up in surrender, but she didn't care. Layla pulled the trigger and watched as that body collapsed as well.

Her drunken haze lifted slightly, her seeing the murdered bodies before her. She stifles a scream, dropping her gun and book as she raised both hands to her mouth. Tears stung her eyes as they fell down her cheeks and she began sobbing.

 _I_ killed _them…!_

She had never killed anyone before. Layla a few times had beaten people to a pulp so she could escape, but never had she ever had the intention of killing someone.

 _They were going to take me!_ She tried reasoning with herself. _They were going to take me to God knows where…! Maybe back to_ him _!_

But no matter how much she tried to reason with herself, the fact was that she had killed them in cold blood. She didn't give a second thought when her finger was on the trigger, she just did it. And now she sat the alleyway with her back to the wall, her crying as she saw the lifeless bodies before her.

She noticed the shattered glass from her alcohol. Slowly, she crawled over there and looked through the glass, trying to see if there was just any drop left. She froze.

"What… am I _doing_!?" she shouted as she threw a piece of glass away from her. Was she really that desperate? But then again… maybe if she hadn't been drunk she wouldn't have killed those monsters… well, they weren't monsters. They were just patrons of this dimension. _She_ was the monster. "I… I need to stop… no to cut down…" she whispered to herself. "I can't wander around drunk… that's dangerous… _I'm_ dangerous…"

She got up from the ground, her fingers getting cut from the glass, and picked up her book. With a heavy sigh as the tears began to dry she began to walk out the alleyway.

All she had was herself and the personal demons in her mind.

* * *

 **A/N:** In "Beyond the Portal" she had said she wanted to forget and that's why she drinks. Now we all know why!

Thanks for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~


	9. Another Human

**Chapter 9: Another Human**

 _ **JUST A QUICK THING! I decided to split this extremely long chapter into hopefully two chapters... it's to make up for the hiatus. Anyway, enjoy!**_

* * *

Layla wandered around the mercenary dimension, it having been sixteen years since her arrival through the portal, her looking for any useful weapons and items to defend herself with.

It had seemed that everyone was gathered in a large group in the center of the one town she was in, her curious to what was going on. The voice of Bill Cipher bellowed in his usual shrill tone, causing her to stiffen. She moved through the crowds, bumping into various characters that were in the dimension to get jobs.

 _"_ _Hello, all!"_ Bill's voice shrilled. _"So… I have been informed that there was a disturbance in this dimension…"_ Layla stiffened and stopped moving through the crowd, her eyes darting around. She started to back away to get to the edge of crowd, ready to run when she needed to. _"And it's a disturbance from that metal bag filled dimension. I'm looking for a Stanford Filbrick Pines, since he had access to a portal."_

Layla stopped dead in her tracks. Another… human?

There was a light of a hologram, most likely showing what the person looked like. Layla could not see due to being blocked by much taller mercenaries. She continued her way out of the crowd, heading to one of the very few abandoned buildings she had a few things stored in. Along the way she kept hearing Bill's voice, which made her skin crawl.

 _"_ _So… if you find this man… bring him to me, Bill Cipher. Dead or alive. I honestly don't care which, as long as I get that meat bag."_

Layla made her way to the building, her truly debating whether or not to help. She then heard someone from outside, cursing under their breath. Finally, she took a deep breath and rushed out the door just in time for a man in a long brown trench coat to pass by the door. Layla grabbed him and put a hand over his mouth to cover his yelp of surprise and dragged him inside.

"You need to be quiet!" Layla hissed to him, seeing his brown eyes through black glasses trying to get a look at her. He was bent over backwards because of her height, her being at least a couple of feet shorter than him, she had to jump just get a hand over his mouth and dragged him inside. Layla dragged him further inside and shut the door with her foot. Once they were inside deep in the building she released him and he sprung away from him.

The man like she had assumed was a couple of feet taller than her, but he was now slouched as he was in a boxing position with his fists up. He had dark brown hair that stuck up in all directions, as though he had ran his hands through his hair multiple times. Thick bags were under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept in weeks, his five o'clock shadow thick on his square jaw from not shaving daily. One of his dominate facial features was his large pinkish nose and another was that he had a cleft chin. Along with his trench coat he was also wearing a dirty white dress shirt with a black tie and pants, him wearing brown muddy boots. But what she could tell that he seemed to be terrified and paranoid, but that didn't stop her for being her usual self.

"That's how you thank someone that just saved your ass, _Stanford Pines_?" she snapped at him, clearly exasperated.

"Ford…" the man replied slowly, him not relaxing one bit. "You can just call me Ford, Miss…?"

"Layla, Layla Bartek." she replied automatically, her mentally slapping herself. Not only did she just give her name without a second thought, but she was still processing on why a man named "Stanford" called himself "Ford" instead of "Stan", which is what people with the name shorten it as. She once again mentally slapped herself as she held out her right hand, him hesitating to grasp her hand. "Come on, you're being rude!" she then snapped at him, surprised at herself for being extremely excited for another human. He finally then gave her a handshake, her immediately noticing that and extra finger grasped around her hand. "Six fingers…?" she whispered in astonishment. "Wow… polydactyl, I've never met someone with that! That's pretty cool!" Layla noticed that her voice was getting high with excitement at this, her remembering reading about the birth defect along her own.

Ford removed his hand from hers and hid them in the pockets of his trench coat. He looked as though he was about to have a nervous breakdown. His cheeks were tinged pink with embarrassment.

Layla then gave him an odd look. "Why are you hiding them?" she asked, her sounding a bit sad that he would be so ashamed of his hands.

"I… I don't like showing them." Ford stated, him stuttering. "A lot of people… don't react the way you just did."

Layla had hid her hand because it was such a dominate feature that she would be searched for, but she really never was ashamed of her hand. She knew it wasn't normal to be missing partial limbs, but she knew it wasn't her fault either, it was just a miscode in her DNA. Layla then held up her hands, showing that her left hand was missing her thumb and pinkie, only having nubs. She noticed that Ford was staring at her hand, so she lowered it, but he was still staring.

She then explained, "I have symbrachydactyly, only on my left hand though. You have polydactyl on both your hands… that's a double anomaly." She then gives him a small smile, but to her it felt forced. "So… I know what you mean about not wanting to show your hands." It was sort of a lie, she never really was ashamed of her hand; she just hid it from many so that they wouldn't turn her into Magum.

Ford then took his hands out of his pockets, staring at his right hand with a new look of surprise. He cleared his throat. "Sorry…" he then said. "I didn't mean to be rude then…" After just taking his hands out of his pockets he then put them behind his back.

"It's alright," Layla then assured him, thinking that maybe he never saw someone with her condition like she had never seen someone with his. It was almost like an odd comfort that there was someone similar to her… "But… I do have a question for you, Ford."

"Okay… what is it?"

"What does Bill Cipher have against you?"

Immediately his face twisted to bafflement and shock. "Pardon me?" he inquired, his voice taking on the tone of surprise.

Layla rolled her eyes as she groaned with annoyance, "Don't play dumb, Ford." To her it felt very odd to say "Ford", her thinking it was just plain weird to be called that. "Obviously Cipher wants you for something, and you were running. So, why does he want you?"

That was when Layla found out that Ford was a scientist that studied the anomalies in Gravity Falls. According to him he had met Bill during the studies and was tricked into building a portal for Bill. When she was excited that he was from Gravity Falls, he had to inform her that he was from Glass Shard Beach, New Jersey, a place that she never even heard of. He had seemed surprised that she was from Gravity Falls as well… until he realized her last name.

They argued about her father, a man who hadn't seen in years and still tried to defend him. She didn't understand _why_ she defended him, but she felt she _had_ to because he was her father that raised her when her mother disappeared. No matter what, he was her father, doing what he did for his stem cell research for her. But, she did have to admit that he was a monster for killing innocent people, and even for sending them as monstrosities to another dimension.

In the middle of their arguing she had heard the door being crashed in from the monsters that were chasing Ford. "We need to go! _NOW!_ " she ordered, her grabbing Ford's hand and started running, trying to get them to safety.

She knew the building very well, and led them to an open chasm that she had a rope dangling to swing across. Layla immediately lets go of Ford's hand and jumped onto the rope and after a moment of swinging she started to climb it. She felt the rope move as Ford jumped onto it, but she noticed that he was barely climbing and heard him cuss.

"Ford, hurry the hell up!" she screamed at him after she made it to the top. She had grabbed her knife from her side so she could cut the rope away. The problem was… Ford was barely climbing. "Don't you know how to climb!? I have less fingers than you and I can climb!" she screamed, clearly agitated.

"Well I'm spry I was terrible in gym class!" Ford snapped at her, him glaring up with his brown eyes, hard with fear and anger. The man then continued to pathetically pull himself up the rope, making Layla's hands sweat with irritation and panic. Why did she decide to save him again…?

"You're a man and you can't climb a damn rope!?" Layla shouted with disbelief, her proceeding to face palm herself with her left hand. "You have got to be _kidding_ _me!_ "

Layla could feel his hard glare. "Hey, don't judge me! I was the academic twin, my brother as the athletic one!" He was close to the top, but she was thinking on what he had said. He had said he was a twin. Did that mean this twin was in this part of the multiverse, or was he on the other side of the portal losing his mind that his brother was gone?

The raven-haired woman then got impatient as he neared the top, sweat on his brow. She grabbed him by the collar of his dress shirt and pulled him up with all the strength she had, which surprising was a lot. She could see that his mouth opened to say something, but she sliced the rope as quickly as she could, seeing the insect-looking monster that had been chasing them fall deep into the chasm with screeches of screams.

"Thanks…" Ford thanked breathlessly.

Layla mumbled, "Yeah, yeah…" She stood up as she said, "There's going to be more, so we need to get moving. I'm assuming you don't have a weapon…" Layla then looked around, looking for her chest that she kept extra clothing and weapons in. Once she had found it she jogged over to it and opened it, revealing all the extra weapons she did have but preferred not to use, an extra coat she had stolen that ended up being way too big on her, goggles, battery-cell packs for the weapons, and just a few random knick-knacks. "Here, takes these." Layla then grabbed the coat and weapon to hand to Ford.

Ford looked terrified of being handed a weapon. "A-a gun?" the brunette stammered nervously. "I don't know how-"

"You aim, pull the trigger, and hope whatever you shot is dead," Layla snapped at him angrily. "That is a highly intense laser beam weapon, that thing can blow holes through metal. So, I suggest you make sure what is in front of you really needs to be dead…"

Ford looked at her, baffled as he shouted, "Do you think I'm going to point this thing at you? I mean, you did save my life twice now… your father may have been a terrible man but I don't see any problem with you."

For a moment her heart stopped. How could her trust her so quickly? As she searched his eyes she could see that they were still hard with distrust, or more like they were hesitant.

"It's all about survival, Ford Pines," It was still weird to say "Ford". "And in this world… you trust no one."

* * *

Just a few hours later after their meeting they sat in the bar to meet Kerum, Layla taking shot after shot.

Ford on the other hand really didn't want to drink, he had said he dabbed a few drinks here and there but wasn't really into it. However, for her she wanted to keep on drinking since once again they argued about her father. She had even explained to him about who controlled what in the multiverse, him looking more like he understood with each word.

 _The guy is a damn Brainiac…_

Once she had told him that she was traveling around the multiverse for sixteen years, he looked like he had _sympathy_ for her. That irritated her to no end, but she did find out something…

 _We're the same age…_

That couldn't be a coincidence…

"Why are we here…?" Layla heard Ford ask. "Don't tell me it's to get drunk…" As he was talking she downed her third shot.

"I'm waiting for my inside guy," she responded to him, her taking out her device that she was given to contact Kerum. "Ah… he's here." She gave a small smile, her noticing that Ford glared at her with clear annoyance, but he regardless downed a shot.

However… Kerum wasn't too friendly this time around.

He had heard of a bounty that was placed over Ford's head, which wasn't a surprise in the least. She knew that Cipher wanted him for something, and Ford was an intelligent man, that meant he was a big part of something. Once Kerum had a gun pointed in Ford's face Layla got hers immediately and pointed it Kerum.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" she screamed at Kerum in the language that they had agreed to use. She couldn't believe that Kerum would do this… "Ford… RUN!" she then shouted in English as she pulled the trigger, a plasma beam shooting from her gun and it going through Kerum's skull, a sickening hole appearing showing blood and tissue.

More guns were being pulled out, now seeing why Ford was so important. He tried to aim his gun, but his hands shook terribly. Layla grabbed him immediately, seeing someone pulling a trigger, her pulling him away just as a plasma beam shot where Ford's head was just a moment before.

As they had left the tavern Layla had got shot in her shoulder, it burning her flesh, but luckily for her that it just grazed the skin instead of fully going through. Ford had ended up carrying her as she had gotten distracted by her shoulder.

"That… bastard…" she heaved.

"Who?" Ford questioned worriedly. "The guy that shot you?"

"No…" she wheezed. "My information… apparently Cipher had a bounty on your head… you must be really important… It was a setup because they wanted the reward…"

She saw that he glanced down, her seeing that he was guilty. "Sorry then that you're associated with me…" he told her sentimentally. He slowed his pace, finding an alleyway for them to tuck away in. He had set Layla down, her holding her bleeding shoulder.

Her face was covered in a sheen of sweat as she glanced at him. "No… it's my fault… I probably should've went in alone…" she admitted.

 _That and I didn't even follow my own advice… "Trust no one"._

She tried to reach into her coat, looking for the small first aid kit she had carried around. She winced in pain, her struggling. Ford lowered himself in front of her and went inside her coat where her hand was trying to get the kit. "Thanks…" Layla whispered with gratitude as she shrugged out of her coat. She wore a black tank top, it tight and accenting her figure, her arms covered with the scars that she had received during the years. In the corner of her eye she saw that Ford's eyes widened at the sight of the scars. "It's all fine…" she assured him as she started treating her wound.

Ford then whispered sullenly, "I'll just be going then…" He slowly then got up so that he could leave.

Layla noticed and did a double take from her wound treatment to Ford. She shouted, "Go where? You're gonna get killed out there!" Layla then finished bandaging her shoulder, it looking a little sloppy but at that point she didn't care. As she shrugged back on her coat she continued, "Cipher is going to find you easily, you don't know what you're doing."

"Look where trying to help me got you, Layla!" Ford then snapped at her, him putting his hands to his head, fingers gripping into his dark brown hair.

Layla didn't understand why, but she _hated_ being pushed away. "You just like pushing people away, don't you?" she screamed at him. Once again they were arguing, and once again she really wanted a drink.

But after a few moments of both of them taking a breather, Layla took Ford to one of the secret alcoves that she had found before while being in that dimension from previous times. She noticed that Ford was getting heavy eyed so she let him sleep first so that she could take the first watch. She started humming a song that she remembered her mother singing before, not the lullaby she had sung but a different one that sounded from an old book. Soon Ford fell asleep surprisingly soundly, probably the first time he truly slept in quite some time.

During their argument Ford had said that he pushed his twin brother away, Layla was so stressed out that she didn't even recall what his name was, and that Ford moved on the other side of the country to study the anomalies of Gravity Falls. He had wanted to focus on his work, so he pushed people away…

That sounded familiar…

Layla then noticed as she hummed that Ford started grinning in his sleep. She couldn't tell if he was already dreaming or if it was from her humming… She immediately stopped, her face turning pink with embarrassment. Surly it wasn't her humming that was making him grin…?

A loud sound made Layla jump nearly out of her skin, her looking around frantically thinking that someone had found them. The loud sound happened again and she ended up glaring at Ford.

He was snoring. Extremely loudly.

Layla then covered her ears with her hands as she continued to glare at him with newfound annoyance. But at the same time, she couldn't help but grin herself.

It felt good to have someone else along with her.

* * *

Two months.

It had been two months since Layla had saved Ford from being chased down by those mercenaries sent by Bill to capture him. During that time Layla had taught Ford how to use his weapon better, which he progressed quite well. In exchange he actually showed her some boxing moves, which made her laugh at him that he could actually to do it quite well.

When she had asked him where he learned to box, he simply shrugged and said he took lessons as a kid to fight against bullies. She knew there was more to the story, he had mentioned numerous times about having a twin brother, but he seemed to forget that she knew and would try to hide the fact once again. Layla played it off like she didn't, her thinking that maybe one day Ford would tell her the full story on why he and his twin originally fought.

They sat at a bar, her scarf wrapped around her neck but not covering her face. In front of her was her third pint of some green slop that she knew was a delicious drink. To her it tasted like a crisp green apple, but sometimes when she drank it the memories of her time with Magum would come creeping back.

Layla noticed that Ford wasn't drinking much, him eyeing the drinks she presented him until he took a few sips. Sometimes his face twisted with pure disgust and at other times he would give a small shrug and continue on drinking it.

Layla finally had to say something to the scientist. "Ford, you need to live a little!" she slurred. Once her fourth drink was put in front of her she slid it to Ford as she ordered another for herself. Despite her excessive drinking they still served her, not caring.

Ford retorted, "Not while any minute we can get shot at." He had finished his original drink and he then finished the one that Layla had given him. The bartender asked if he wanted another, but Ford lifted a hand and kindly declined.

Layla's vision started to bend and it seemed like the room was spinning. Or was it really spinning? She's been to a few bars where the actual room was spinning… or maybe she was just that drunk. She couldn't tell and she didn't really care.

She took another swig of her drink, the crisp apple taste hitting the back of her throat. "I've been here for over a decade, Ford," she drunkenly pointed out, her words heavy with alcohol. "I-I think I know what I am doing."

The raven-haired woman noticed that the dark brunette rolled his eyes and he fished for something in his trench coat. He then pulled out a small green rectangle, a cash card that she had pickpocketed and gave to him, and he threw it on the table. As Layla went to take another drink she was grabbed by Ford, his six-fingered hand gripped around her wrist as he dragged her out of the bar. "Hey!" she had yelped, her feeling the cold air slap her face from being outside. Ford had then put on his goggles and turned to put Layla's scarf around her face to conceal her identity. "W-what w-was that for!?" she muttered angrily as she stumbled.

"You're drunk," Ford insisted. "So we're leaving before a scene could be made." He had kept a firm grip on her wrist, almost like a parent dragging their kid away from the candy aisle at the supermarket.

As they had walked, Layla noticed the countless wanted posters that were up of herself and Ford. With newfound strength she tore her wrist away from Ford as she stumbled the walls, her practically leaning on the wall to tear them down. She a giggled a few times, noticing that many posters were of her with her short hair that she had cut when she first broke off from Magum.

Once they made their way back to an old building where they had set up a camping site, Layla rummaged through her pitiful possessions and pulled out a fifth of vodka that she had found along the way. She was extremely giddy that she had found it as it was her favorite, her holding it close to her as Ford lit a lantern.

He glanced over to her as she did so and his chocolate brown eyes widened with disbelief. "Wait a minute…" he murmured, seeing what she had. "How the hell do you have Earth vodka?" He had then snatched it away from her drunk self, her getting pissed that he would do such a thing. Ford eyed the bottle, his eyes glazing over with recognition of the brand.

"O-once in a-a while some t-things from other d-dimensions go through a p-portal and get sucked in." Layla explained in a drunken drawl. "I-I find them and I-I s-stockpile." She had managed to snatch the bottle from Ford, her ready to pop it open so that she could take a swig of it, but he snatched it right back.

"I'm cutting you off, Layla," Ford snapped at her, his chocolate brown eyes hardening as he glared at her.

Layla rolled her electric blue eyes, clearly drunk and agitated with him at the moment for ruining her fun. "You're no fun, Fordsy," the raven-haired woman complained, her giving him a pout.

It was like a switch in Ford as he screamed furiously at her, his face tinging red, "Don't call me that!"

"Whatever, Sixer," Layla mumbled as she stumbled to her small sleeping pile. She noticed that he gave a confused look when she called him that. Layla had heard him once in a while talking in his sleep and he mentioned it a few times, her figuring it was because of his polydactyl.

Layla then proceeded to go to her small stash of alcohol that she did have. They were small sample bottles but she felt like she really needed a few dozen of those. When Ford came and snatched them, causing her to groan loudly and trying to get them back to no avail.

Ford growled, "Layla, _enough_." He was now holding the bottles above his head, Layla being too short and when she was jumping to try to reach it. She ended up hitting his nose, which caused him to narrow his eyes with irritation.

"Ugh… you r-really are a stick in the mud," Layla muttered, finally giving up. She stumbled over to her pile of blankets and pillows and plopped down on them, her not bothering to take off her coat and boots. Layla heard the clink sound of the bottles that Ford put to the side, her throat longing for the burning taste of her alcohol.

"Well, if there had been an incident, what would you have done besides get yourself killed?" he had then asked her seriously, his voice soft with concern. There was a gentle sound of a page turning, him skimming through the books that were similar to the ones Layla had read to learn the multiple languages of the multiverse.

Layla rolled her eyes from where she was at, knowing that Ford couldn't see her anyway. She then drunkenly drawled, "E-easy," she then raised her hand to point at the ceiling. "I-I'd shoot them in their G-God d-damned faces!" She then proceeded to make gun shooting noises, either realistic of laser, she couldn't tell because she was too drunk.

Ford then sighed a reply, "You can barely walk in a straight line right now and you think you could've-"

Layla then tuned him out as she began to doze off. Her eyes heavy, she closed them and fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning when Layla had awoken her head painfully ached and she vomited violently next to her sleeping pile. All that she hacking up was the alcohol that she had drunk the night before, her vision immediately blurring as her body suddenly became dehydrated. Water and sleep sounded amazing to her at that moment.

"You drank too much, Layla," Ford chided her as he began packing up whatever little things that he had. Layla groaned in response, her mumbling about sleep. "Why do you drink so much anyway?" he then asked her. "You're going to end up with liver failure and alcohol poisoning."

Layla stiffened at that statement. All the drinking that he had done to try to forget the tortures that Magum had given her. But… she couldn't tell Ford about Magum. The less the man knew about the demon the better. It would just be easier to lie for the most part.

She then retorted, "The real question is why do drink so _little_?" Her long jet, black hair was sticking up in random directions from her sleeping. She then put one of her pillows over her head to block off the small bit of light.

Ford then lifted the pillow off her, his gaze looking to her worriedly. "I'm serious, Layla, why do you drink so much? You know it's not good for your health, especially living in shitholes like this."

She snatched the pillow back form him, trying to form her lie. But… she played the truth slightly. "I drink to forget, but sadly you can never truly forget," she then finally mumbled into her pillow. "No matter how bad a memory is, no matter what you do try to forget, it finds its way back…"

Ford gave her a sympathetic look, the one that she knew that she would receive from him about it. It wasn't a lie what she had said, but she wasn't about to tell the full truth either. "What are you trying to forget?" he then asked her gently, trying not to trigger anything. But it didn't matter that he would not try to trigger her, the way Magum had touched her over the years was so integrated into her skin that she would think at that point not even a lobotomy would let her forget.

"My father…" she lied smoothly. It was half true, she rather not remember her father much either. It was Magum that haunted her, not her father. "The way he did things… the way he put us here…" Layla then sat up and fixed her hair with her fingers, trying to untangle her natural feathered hair. "But… that doesn't matter now… we need to get moving." She had abruptly said it, her trying to get off the subject before her brain would force her to speak from her heart on how she was tortured by Magum, To keep her mind off of things she began to pack her own bag with her few blankets that she had grabbed from the last alcove that she and Ford were in.

Ford had thrown his bag over his shoulder. "To where?" he inquired, clearly confused.

"I have a lead on where important documents regarding my father's research is…" explained Layla. She then realized that that was a stupid thing to say. Layla had just said with her lie that she wanted to forget Dr. Bartek, but here she said that they needed to get his research.

 _I have everyone here equipped to enhance my abilities. Thanks to Dr. Bartek's research…_

Layla needed to get what she could get. Magum couldn't get a portal to function for himself, and neither can Bill Cipher. At this point her decision on which was the worse demon was biased because of the personal relationship between herself and Magum, so she really didn't want him to get to Earth.

"A lot of it is about the portals, so if we can access those documents we can easily find the portals to all the pocket dimensions and even access them ourselves without to wait for them to open naturally." Layla finished her explanation. She noticed that Ford shook his head gently, as if he was already figuring out that what she was saying about forgetting wasn't making any sense. Well… the guy was a scientist with twelve PhDs… of course he would figure it out.

"So… why do they have his research?" Ford then asked, him looking a bit skeptical. "Didn't you say he was on the run?"

Layla then gave a quick answer, "I'm assuming at one point he got caught and they took some of it… but then he can escape." It was all she could really think that that would happen, but she wasn't one hundred percent if that was the case. "They don't know how to decipher his research, he put it all in code."

Ford raised a dark brown brow. "Are you saying you can decipher it?"

"No… but you can."

His brown eyes widened. "Wait… what?" he had managed to sputter out.

Layla gives a smirk. "You're the kind of guy that writes shit in code, so if anyone can write in it they can crack it. Once we get that research we can have access to the other pocket dimensions easily, which means eventually once we find my father's main portal research we can find a way to get back _home_!"

Ford just stared at her for a moment, and she could see the emotions run across his strong facial features. He then shook his head, now it was her turn to give him a confused look. "We shouldn't mess with any main dimensional portals." He then finally stated, causing Layla's heart to falter. She had always known that she may never return back to Earth, but Ford stating it perfectly clear still hurt her slight hopes that she held onto. "The portal I built was literally set up in a weak spot in the dimensional wall, punching a hole through it. If we that here we basically give Cipher a one way ticket to Earth!" He began gesturing with his hands, something that Layla picked up that he did a lot while pondering and thinking, and especially while frantically explaining things. "Then once that happens he'll spread Weirdmageddon."

Layla couldn't help but chuckle at that, her giving Ford a skeptical look herself. "Weridmageddon? Really? You couldn't figure out a better name, Ford?"

Ford gives a deep frown as he groaned loudly, him beginning to walk away from her. "We'll find that research though… we have to, because if we don't, Bill will…"

* * *

Layla had herself a plan that was extremely risky, her having to go back into the heart of one of Magum's minor warehouses…

She had to put a metal plate in Ford's head.

This was a way to protect Ford from possession of Bill Cipher. The only downside was that Magum would have full access, but luckily for them that Magum had no idea who Ford was and therefore would not even think about tapping into his head.

Layla had lead Ford to the warehouse that she had known that had the equipment to do what she needed done. Despite that she wanted to forget about Magum, she knew deep down that she never would forget, so she still kept some tabs on Magum and his followers. This was one of his recruitment warehouses in a dimension that she would try to be as far away as possible.

Ford was obviously not into putting a metal plate into his head. Layla could tell that he was frightened and nervous of it. But at the same time she could read his facial expressions and could tell that he was literally weighing the pros and cons.

Finally, he agreed to have the metal plate into his head. What he didn't like was that at the age of sixteen Layla was forced by her father with no anesthetic. What surprised her was that he told her that he would do the procedure without it.

"You didn't get a choice, so neither should I." Ford said to her, him strapped in the machine.

There were no words to describe what Layla felt in that moment. In her entire life she never really had a _friend_. Was Rick at one point a friend or did he just tolerate her because of she was the daughter of his mentor? Was Mari and Kari her friends? She would like to think they were friends, she would love to believe it fully. But with Ford… it was different. She was with him nearly one hundred percent of the time, she could already tell how he thought things through, how cautious he was, and how giddy he could get when he discovered something new.

But… was there a word that described what she felt that moment…?

There was no time to think of one now, she had to go on with the procedure. Layla activated the machine, it starting to hum as it powered up. She strapped the helmet onto his head, his brown eyes widening as she could tell he was shocked by the cold metal. He took a deep breath, which caused her heart to skip a beat, she really didn't want to hurt him, but he had insisted with the no use of anesthetic. The final touch was that she removed his glasses so that they wouldn't get damaged, her seeing how they were cracked in the corner; it made her curious just on how blind he was, her almost tempted to put them on herself.

Layla pressed a few buttons and she went to sit next to him. Without even thinking she put her left hand on his arm, a small way to try to comfort him. It wasn't much, but she felt that he needed someone with him, unlike hers when she was suddenly awoken in the middle of the night.

Once the machine started drilling, she saw the blood slowly drip from the side of his head. His screams of pain echoed throughout the warehouse along with sound of the machine. Layla saw that his hands went into fists repeatedly to going back to try to claw out of the restraints. He twitched involuntarily from the pain, but he had tried to stay still.

Layla kept her hand on Ford, it was all she could do besides watch the blood drip from his temporal bone. After what seemed like an eternity the machine hummed to a quiet stop and watched as he collected himself, taking deep breaths and calming himself. Once the restraints were removed he managed to put his right hand on hers that was resting on his arm.

She could feel her heart pick up in pace, she didn't understand what it meant. Layla could feel her face heating up, but luckily Ford's eyes were closed from him trying to calm his own heartrate from his ordeal.

"Are… are you okay?" Layla finally asked, her voice laced with concern and worry. Ford looked a little too pale to her, at least paler than she was used to on him.

Ford raised a free hand, a simple gesture. "Yeah I'm fine…" he whispered hoarsely.

Layla needed to get the budding feeling out of her chest. So, out of an act of silliness, she slapped her free hand to Ford's raised. A high five, or, in his case, a high six.

"High Six that you're okay then!" Layla cheered, feeling the tightness from her chest lifting like the weight was lifted off her shoulders, although he really didn't respond. She had no idea why, but it was an absolute need to get rid of that feeling. Layla then gave him back his glasses and had seen that Ford's eyes glossed over sadly as she removed the helmet from his head, seeing the deep wound that went to his skull. It could get infected if not treated, like hers had done. She had set his glasses on his lap, and with his hand he gripped them to make sure they didn't fall. As she patched him up with a medical kit she had found, Ford winced from the antiseptics.

"Thanks," Ford whispered as he stood up, his face paled to an almost grey sheen, worrying Layla. "The hell…" he muttered.

Without thinking she wrapped an arm around Ford's waist, trying to help his balance. "It might take you a bit to get used to the metal on your skull, for it to be more top heavy," she told him as they slowly walked out of the building, her shutting and locking the door to the facility behind them. "They're gonna know that their equipment was used, but hopefully they won't trace it to me…" she whispered mostly to herself, but she knew Ford heard her.

He then questioned her in a hoarse voice, "What would happen if they do?"

 _Magum will find me and never let me leave his side ever again…_

So, once again she lied. "Well… they'll hunt me down and do ungodly experiments on me since I'm human," she lied smoothly. Again, it wasn't a total lie… after all Magum experimented time and time again…

"What!?" Ford gasped, clearly horrified. "D-did they try to do it before or something?"

"Reason why I left besides them wanting to rule the universe like Cipher." Again, not a total lie. "Once I found out they wanted to experiment on me I ran away, I was hunted down for a few years and then they gave up." That part was for the most part a lie. As far as she was concerned Magum was still looking for her.

They had walked back into the industrial district that the warehouse was located. Layla lead Ford back to the alcove where they had stored their bags so that Ford could rest from his surgery. Ford was practically falling down from being delirious, Layla trying her hardest not to let him fall.

"I thought… we were going to-" Ford was trying to say, him referring to getting Bartek's portal research, as Layla helped him get lowered into the pile of blankets and pillows that was used for sleeping.

"We were… if you had used the anesthetic," Layla told him firmly, noting that his eyes were dropping heavily. "But right now you're in no condition to do something dangerous. Just rest okay?" She tried her best to give her wide blue eyes to beg. All Ford did was sigh as he nodded his head. "Okay… I'll keep watch, okay?"

Personally, Layla didn't want to stay in that dimension any more than she had to. It was too dangerous and Magum could find them at any moment, which frightened her to the core. But, Ford was in deep pain from the procedure because he didn't want to use anesthetic, so she had to deal with it.

Layla started to hum, once again the lullaby that was sing to her so many times very young by her mother. She noticed that Ford's eyes fluttered shut and he began to snore his extremely loud snore.

She hummed more, a slight smile on her face, despite the immediate danger that the two were in.

* * *

 **A/N:** Finally! I decided to just split these chapters into two. I'm doing a lot of paraphrasing of the chapters from "Beyond the Portal", but the key points are being shown in Layla's point of view and how she started to develop feelings for Ford.

Thanks for reading as always and all of the support!

~Skye Hendersen~


	10. The Return of Magum

**Chapter 10: The Return of Magum**

 _ **QUICK THING! Once again the chapter ended up way too long, so it was split!**_

* * *

Layla shouldn't have stayed in that dimension, she should've made Ford move long enough to get out to a safer one.

 _STUPID! I'M SO STUPID!_

Layla watched in horror as Ford gripped a hand with Magum's red flamed covered hand, them sealing a deal for Ford to go and steal something for him. But Layla wasn't allowed to go with Ford… instead she was back into the horrifying trap of being forced by Magum's side.

"Excellent," Magum's voice silkily said as he flamed hand gripped Ford's. "You're one week begins – Now."

Once Ford shook let go it was as if Layla and Magum were then teleported to a different area. Layla felt dizzy as she nearly collapsed, but she was caught by her wrist before she slammed her head to the ground by no other than Magum.

"Hello, my dear Layla Amelia," he purred.

"Let me the hell go you bastard!" Layla growled through clench teeth.

He ignored her statement. "You've grown your hair much longer… it's flattering," he commented. He then lifted her back onto her feet, his new face baring down to hers. The new face was translucent, seeing his new victim's veins and blood vessels just beneath the skin. His eyes were still a soulless white, them staring intently into her electric blue. "And those eyes are still those beautiful blue…"

"Oh, I assure you if I was able to I'd make sure they weren't," she lowly muttered, her eyes almost an icy flame.

Magum gives a slight shrug. "You probably can in this part of the multiverse…" he began. "But it might be extremely painful due to extraction of the eyeballs to be sold on the Black Market and you'd probably receive a pair that was from some diseased monster that was put on Death Row due to _horrendous_ crimes."

"Nothing beats your _horrendous_ crimes," the raven-haired woman said with such a casual tone that it seemed she was giving praise.

He lowers his face close to hers. "And what would that be, my dear Layla Amelia?" he asked her softly.

Vomit rose to her throat. She did not want to speak about the crimes he had committed to her. Layla swallowed, a noticeable gulp. The acid burned her throat, but she ignored it.

"Besides… I'm a _demon_ ," he whispered to her, his breath brushing against her face. "There is no judicial system for me."

"The Axolotl," Layla snapped.

Magum's body involuntary twitched. "What… was… that?" he growled.

Layla gives a smirk. "The Axolotl, it _is_ your judicial system. It is a being that has control over demonic entities, a being that has such power that it can strip a demon's physical form," she explained, her smirk widening as she noticed Magum's eye twitch.

"Someone has been reading over the course of the years…" Magum commented as he gripped tighter around Layla's wrist, causing her to grimace. "And… what should I do to this _clever_ girl…?"

"LET ME GO!" she screamed as she threw her head forward, her forehead colliding with Magum's new victim's nose, the nose cracking as blood spilled, ignoring the sudden pain the exploded on her forehead. Magum roared in a mixture of pain and anger as he let go of Layla's wrist, setting her free.

The raven-haired woman ran as fast as she could, running out of the small room that she was in, but was running in what seemed like a maze. Dead end upon dead end she ran into, her breaths coming in gasps of breathlessness from running and from panic. She couldn't be caught… she refused to, she had to find Ford and slap him from making a stupid deal.

As she turned around she ran into Magum, her grunting as she bounced off of him and crashing onto the floor. While she sputtered her gasps and held at her side, Magum towered over her, his soulless white eyes seemingly turning black with red lines spider-webbing with the dark voids.

"My… did you really think that would work?" he questioned her in a demeaning manner, as if talking to a child.

Layla sat up and gave a weak shrug. "Honestly, it was a good try," she commented weakly.

"'A' for effort," the demon scoffed as he bent down and lifted Layla by her neck and lifted her from the ground, her oxygen cut off. "Now… I think we need a better _reunion_ don't you think?" He saw that her face was turning blue, her barely kicking anymore as her eyes began to flutter shut. "Oh… I think you do…"

Layla's vision went black.

* * *

When she woke up a few hours later, she was lying in a bed that was so soft around her she thought she was on clouds. Being on the streets have really made her uncomfortable, so a real bed felt like a blessing. But Layla knew that it wasn't a blessing, it was a curse.

As she sat up, she saw that she was in a bedroom that was decorated with red and black, like the way Magum had always done for his personal quarters. Layla groaned in pain, feeling that there was a bruise forming in her neck. But what she really noticed was what she was wearing.

Or lack of.

Her long trench coat was stripped from her, as was her pants and undershirt. They were nowhere to be seen, her boots disappeared too. All she wore was a silver colored bra with matching underwear, them both metallic and reflected whatever little light touched it. With a groan of annoyance she got out of the bed only for her to collapse to the floor with weak legs, her body entirely sore.

The realization hit her to the point of tears. She was used once again. Vomit rose to her throat and she expelled it, a mixture of acid and tears as she cried. Her breaths came in gasps between vomiting, her stomach churning painfully.

"Well, hello there, my dear Layla Amelia," Magum's voice amusingly greeted as he entered back in the room. "Did you sleep well?"

"Go to Hell!" Layla spat.

An irritated sigh escaped Magum. "Now, my dear, what have I told you about that phrase?" he asked her lowly, his voice turning hard.

All Layla did was stare hard at him as she stood up from the vomit soaked ground. Her long black hair was cleaned and brushed, it looking a bit longer than she was used to, so it covered her almost like a veil as her hair wrapped around her down to her waist. She was uncomfortable, not really wanting to expose herself because of what Magum had done to her in the past.

"We do have to get moving soon, your 'friend' should have failed my test by now," Magum announced, himself getting ready. He made no move to get Layla any clothing, so she stood there and watched as Magum dressed himself.

 _Ford…_

Layla then looked around, searching for clothing. She glanced at Magum expectedly, her blue eyes wondering. When Magum glanced back, he gave his infamous wolf-like smile. Shivers were sent up Layla's spine, she hated that smile, no matter what body he took possession over.

"You really think I'm getting you clothing?" Magum amusingly asked. "No, no, no, after the stunt you pulled being on the run all these years think of this as a… _extended_ punishment."

"Extended?" Layla replied, clearly baffled. "I'm not an animal you stupid demon."

"Humans are animals if you think about it, my dear," Magum began, him finishing dressing up in his suit. "Just because humans have a higher level of thinking than, let's say a snake, doesn't mean humans are less than an animal than the snake."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm saying one day, when I rule, humans will finally be forced on the same level in which they were created to do."

"You're not making any sense…"

"I don't have to," was his only reply. "Now, wait here, I shall retrieve you momentarily." He suddenly vanished, leaving Layla alone once more.

Layla felt like she should look for a means of escape, but she also felt like she shouldn't. If she found a way to escape, what would that mean for Ford? He could end up dead…

 _Or worse… Magum's next victim._

The thought of that made her heart race painfully with anxiety and fear. She would not let that happen, Ford will not end up as Magum's next victim. So, Layla stood there, waiting patiently for her captor to retrieve her, her tapping her foot nervously.

Suddenly she was next to Magum in a completely different surrounding. Before she could react to feeling ill or to comprehend where she was at, she heard a very familiar voice.

"Damn, Layla Bartek, gotta say, puberty did you right and you got hot."

Finally her vision cleared and saw both Ford and… Rick Sanchez?

"Rick Sanchez!?" Layla screeched, her face turning red with embarrassment and anger. She was practically naked, and she remembered clearly when the two were teenagers in her cabin home in the woods of Gravity Falls that Rick would once in a while try to peek at her. But what was really embarrassing was that she was also in front of Ford. "You're here too!? GOD DAMN IT!"

Rick gave a grin and clicked his tongue. "Can't get rid of me, Layla!"

 _No… but you can run away like you always do._

She then heard Ford's voice, who she saw was avoiding staring at her but still had a gun aimed at Magum, "Aren't you _married_ , _Rick_?" she could tell that he was a little angry, at truly what she couldn't tell. _"And you have a daughter yourself!"_

That made Layla almost want to laugh. "Oh, what sane woman married and bred with you!?" she snapped in disbelief, trying to keep her anger in check. Never had she known that Rick would actually getting married, him often commenting that marriage was like a funeral with cake.

There was a loud snap and a red fire surrounded both Ford and Rick. _"Enough of your annoying human banter!"_ Magum snarled, his voice almost sound reptilian. Layla felt her arm get grabbed by the demon as he tightened his fingers around her forearm. She was then forced to stand in front of him, making her extremely uncomfortable. _"Do you still want to shoot, Stanford?"_ the demon silkily asked.

With his eye contact still avoiding Layla, Ford lowered his gun. He then dropped it to the floor and kicked the gun towards Magum, his hands raised in surrender. Once the gun had reached Magum, the demon snapped his fingers and the gun burst into red flames.

 _"_ _I made it easy so I can see what Bill Cipher was dealing with,"_ Magum continued smoothly. _"I may not like that damn triangular bastard, but he and I stroke a deal._

 _"_ _He lets me keep Layla if I deliver you, Stanford, and a completed portal device."_

Rick then interjected, "W-w-w-w-wait a sec!" he had then raised his arms in a stopping motion, some gun-looking objecting in his one hand. It must've been the portal device that Magum was talking about. "You're giving up power, power over the entire universe and multiverse, complete domination, for a _chick_?!" He had then gestured to Layla. "The girl is hot, but _damn_! W-w-w-what is your d-d-d-d-demonic boner t-t-t-taking the b-b-b-blood from your brain!?"

Layla almost made a strangled sound, it catching in her throat. She automatically felt uncomfortable, did Rick really say that about her? She noticed that Ford then glared at Rick, and even Magum looked at him oddly.

"H-h-h-hey, that's how I'm married, damn it!" Rick then snapped, finally noticing all of the glares. "Being a man _sucks_ with th-that kind of shit!"

 _"_ _Give me the portal device, Rick Sanchez."_ Magum then ordered, him holding out his hand, him pushing Layla slightly away.

Rick gave a smirk. "And y-y-y-you can go _screw yourself!"_ Rick shouted as he reached into his lab coat with his free hand and grabbed something that resembled a laser pistol. Rick then aimed at the light fixtures about Magum's head and pulled the trigger. The lights shattered out, putting everyone in the dark.

Layla could not see a thing, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. All she heard was Rick's gun and the small amount of light that illuminated from the gun. Another light illuminated, Magum's body glowing red out of fury. Layla tried to back away from everything, her back hitting a table. Suddenly, she felt her left hand get grabbed, causing her to gasp.

She then threw her hand in a general direction, hoping that she will hit something. Her hand collided with someone, the person she slapped the groaned in pain.

 _"_ _Ford!?"_ Layla hissed, but she had suddenly felt relieved that it was him.

"Yeah… ow…" Ford replied with a groan of pain. "We need to get out of here and help Rick-!"

Layla was annoyed that Ford would want to help Rick. He obviously didn't know him like she did… but then again Rick seemed so much different from when they were teenagers. Rick had talked so drunkenly… like he had become an alcoholic…

 _Just like me…_

"No, we're not helping him!" Layla growled angrily. "He's a complete asshole! Besides, he's fine!" Her gesturing to Rick who was still shooting his gun but also aiming his portal device behind him for a means of escape.

Ford had gripped her wrist tighter and started moving, gently pulling her so that she would follow him. Layla followed willingly, her happy to finally leave Magum once again. She bumped into a few things along the way, and she could hear Ford grumble under his breath as he bumped into a few things from the lack of light except for the laser blasts and Magum's glowing form.

They had managed to escape, Ford leading Layla to what she recognized as a Biker Pod, or basically a motorcycle that hovers from the ground. They were both huffing and puffing, trying to catch their breath as they heard a furious roaring from within the building. Layla recognized that roar… and she didn't want to be on the receiving end of it.

Suddenly, Ford's coat was being handed to her. His brown gaze was still averted to not stare at her. Her heart caught in her throat, why was he being so nice to her when she was so rude to him before? Hesitantly, she grabbed it and pulled it around her like a large blanket, her feeling instantly warm from the coat and his leftover body heat that was trapped within the fabric.

"Thanks…" she breathed.

He was glancing around, looking for a means of escape. "Yeah… no problem," Ford replied absently.

Out of curiosity, she had to ask, "Why… weren't you looking at me before?"

Ford was now glancing at her, able to meet her in the eye now that she was covered with his coat. "What do you mean?" he questioned, his facial features contorted with confusion.

"I mean, Rick was staring, but you weren't." Layla pointed out. Over the years she did get stared at a lot, a few commenting on her looks. Of all the compliments, the number one thing was about her eyes. Second was her breasts and figure, which made her extremely uncomfortable and got her into more fights in a bar fueled with alcohol than she had liked.

"Because that's rude," Ford explained simply, and also hinting with his voice that it was a little obvious. "A woman should not be forced to wear something like that. She should only to it if she feels comfortable herself or do it by her husband."

A bubble of laughter built from her chest to Layla's throat. "You're very old fashioned, aren't you?" she laughed.

Ford then gives a slight shrug. "Grew up in New Jersey raised by a phone psychic and a tough pawn shop owner," he explained almost shyly. "Dad was a little strict and Ma always made sure my brothers and I were respectful to women." He then grabbed something form his pant pocket and started the engine of the Biker Pod. He sat on the bike, waiting for Layla.

"You did mention that you had a twin before," Layla recalled, her trying to pry a little about Ford's past. She knew he had mentioned countless times about a twin, even said his name a couple of times, but Ford seemed to forget that he ever mentioned it. She then sat on the back of the bike, her leaning into Ford so that she could wrap her arms around him, although she barely did since her arms were shorter.

Instantly she had felt Ford stiffen. Layla couldn't tell if it was from her sudden closeness or her question. "Yeah… I have a younger twin brother…" Ford barely whispered, his voice laced with sadness. He had then began driving the Biker Pod, him going at a decent pace as if following a speed limit.

"What's his name?" Layla asked after a moment of silence.

"… Stanley."

Layla grinned at that. The twins had such similar names! It baffled her! "So… you two are _Stanford and Stanley Pines?_ " she laughed, not even bothering to hide the amusement.

 _That would explain why he was called "Ford"… Stanley must be called "Stan"._

"Once again that was from my Dad," Ford explained almost jokingly. "He's not a very creative man… I mean, he did give my older brother the name 'Sherman'. It could've been worse."

After a few minutes of silence Ford had driven to a small abandoned building. The two went inside and Ford started a small fire, getting the items from the bags that was on the Biker Pod to set up some sort of bedding. He had only one set, so he offered it to Layla. She gave him a small smile as she sat on the blankets and lifted her hands to the fire to warm them.

Ford then interrupted the silence. "We'll get you some new clothes tomorrow," he offered. "That can't be comfortable," he then added.

"Well… the clothing is comfy," Layla admitted, which wasn't a lie as it was made of silk and went with her figure nicely. "It's just… not my taste." She continued to warm her hands, a question bubbling in her mind as she secretly glanced at Ford's six fingered hands. "Does your twin brother have polydactyl too?" she finally asked, her truly curious.

"No," Ford replied curtly, his voice taking on a sour tone.

 _If that's the case…_ Layla thought as she thought back to the medical books that were her father's. A few books explained about multiple births in humans, the most common multiple birth being fraternal twins as it was two different eggs being fertilized by two different sperm.

"So… definitely fraternal twins then…" Layla assumed, but she knew deep down that she was correct.

"Yes." Again, his answer was short and curt. That was irritating. "But..." he continued. "We looked eerily similar still. As kids all Stanley had to was put on my glasses and put on one of my coats to hide his hands and he could pass as me." Layla saw that a small smile played on his lips from a memory, his brown eyes softening from a hard wood to a warm chocolate.

"Are you two close?" Layla then asked gently.

"We _were_ close," Ford replied sourly, hinting that he did not want to talk about it.

The raven-haired woman blinked a few times, unable to understand why he didn't want to talk about it. "Oh… okay. Um, I'm just gonna go to sleep… you can wake me in a couple of hours and I'll take over."

"Okay."

"Night, Ford."

"Night, Layla."

Layla was going to end it there, but she couldn't. Her chest felt tight as she added, "Oh, and Ford?"

"Yeah…?" Ford replied, him sounding a little confused.

"Thank you." Her heart pounded as she said it, as she was very thankful that he had helped her. She had once escaped Magum and it was with his help.

She once again noticed a small smile and his warm eyes. "You're welcome, Layla..."

* * *

 **A/N:** I am trying to update this story more often since I cannot complete "After Cipher's Reign: Short Stories" until this is done. Trust me, it will all connect in some way with a sort of plot twist!

But yes, once again the chapter even though being split the first time was getting too long. So, I once again split it to help the flow of information. In this part we really see Layla looking a Ford differently, seeing him as more warm with his eyes and taking comfort into the trench coat.

Thanks for reading as always and the support!

~Skye Hendersen~


	11. A Father's Love

**Chapter 11: A Father's "Love"**

The next morning Layla heard Ford groan in pain when he had woken up, a hand to his head.

She knew what that meant, he was feeling the effects of the metal plate reacting to the cold. He then glanced at her, seeing that she herself was shivering from the cold and grimacing from the pain that pulsated from her own head. She had then tapped her head as well, letting him know that the metal plate was hurting her as well.

Ford grunted as he got up, her hearing the pops and snaps from cold limbs trying to get themselves to work again. He sat next to her and put his own hands to the fire, her feeling his body heat illuminating from him, making her a little more comfortable. Layla let him sleep a lot longer than he probably would've liked, but if she was honest with herself she rather not have slept after the dealing with Magum once again.

The thought that he had used her once again made her want to vomit. Or cry. Maybe both…

Layla then noticed that Ford's warm brown eyes kept looking at her bare hands. Since she no longer was wearing her gloves her hands were exposing the secrets that she had hid under them for so long. Scars, countless scars, licked over the pale skin of her hands, looking as if knives tried to carve her up like a piece of kosher meat being served. It made her uncomfortable, but she could tell that Ford was concerned.

That was when Layla finally decided how she had met Magum. She told him how the recruitment was and how she had felt blessed that she had a shelter, food, water, and a place to sleep. Layla had told Ford how she had learned so much, like fighting, and felt as if she were invincible.

"Rick mentioned that you and Magum… were a thing at one point?" Ford asked, his voice a little nervous, as if he didn't want to ask the question in the first place.

When Ford had said that, it almost felt that Layla's heart had stopped. How did Rick know about it? But what made her feel worse was that Ford asked her about it, and he did not seem like he had wanted to ask. How could she explain to Ford what all had happened to her? Despite her brain telling her that it was a bad idea, her heart said otherwise. Ford deserved at least the truth about Magum and her.

Layla had told her tale on how she met Magum, even telling him how once she was invited into Magum's personal quarters that everything went to hell. She could tell from Ford's hard facial expressions that he was not pleased about the confirmation.

Once she was done telling her tale, she felt as if she wanted to break down and cry, or wash every bit of her body with hot, stingy acid. Talking about the surface of the situation made her want to sleep and never wake up.

"Well, you're not in that situation anymore… we got each other now, we'll keep each other safe." Ford then sincerely told her, him having a small smile on his face, as if to try to comfort her.

Layla couldn't believe that he would say something like that to her. Her eyes filled with tears as she felt a blush spread across her face. His warm eyes and smile was making her feel warm. She wiped her eyes with Ford's oversized sleeves as she was still wearing his coat.

"Thank you… thank you for that, Stanford," Layla tearfully said, her sniffling.

Ford then stood up, him offering his left hand. "Ready to get new clothes?" he offered.

Layla gave a slight nod as she then gave him her left hand. A three-fingered left to a six-fingered left.

"Ready."

* * *

After going through a natural portal, the two travelers had found a dimension that was in what looked like a farmland.

In the middle of seemingly nowhere, there was a two story farmhouse next to dull, read barn. Ford had asked how it was possible and Layla had to explain that some dimensions had a Earth-like feel to them. She had been to a few of those, and quickly left because she didn't want to think that she was home when she wasn't.

Once they made it to the farmhouse, Ford was the first inside, him making sure everything was clear. He made the signal and Layla followed inside, her looking around the dusty rooms.

Despite it being dusty, Layla decided that she wanted to try to bathe, stating that she still felt the way that Magum touched, causing her to grimace and shiver. She went upstairs, trying to find herself a bathroom. Once she found one she began to run the water, grateful that the water began to steam the room.

Layla peeled off Ford's trench coat and the clothing that she had been force to wear by Magum. She then saw her reflection in the mirror, her gasping as she truly saw how much her body was covered in scars. Thick red and white crisscrossed on her body, several shiny ones from burns, and deep looking scars that seemed to be deep in her tissues that would never heal.

Tears flooded her eyes, seeing how terrible her body looked. Even if she did escape Magum, even if she truly felt like she would be safe with Ford, she had the permanent reminder of Magum etched into her skin. Slowly, she lifted neck, knowing that she was going to see the thick scar that went across her throat.

It was such a ghastly white she was wondering how she was even alive.

A scream ripped through her throat, just seeing how horrifying the scar was.

All of sudden she heard her name being called out, and within a minute the door opened and Ford was in the doorway. For the first time he actually looked at her bare form, his face immediately turning red. He spun around and left, slamming the door behind him.

"I am so _sorry!_ " Layla heard Ford frantically apologize through the door. "I heard you scream and I thought you were in trouble!"

"It was a damn _spider_!" Layla smoothly lied. She did have a huge fear spiders, so it was plausible lie.

She heard him leave the door as she entered the shower, the hot steaming water cleansing her. For some reason it never dawned on her on _how_ the hot water tank was still active… and the lights.

Soon her shower was done and she carefully stepped out, looking for anything to dry herself off. She searched through the cabinets underneath the sink, finding herself two fairly large blue towels. Quickly, as she was starting to get cold, she wrapped her long jet-black hair in the towel and the wrapped the second one around her body.

As she was about to leave the bathroom, she saw Ford's crumpled up trench coat on the counter. Layla knew she had to return it, so she grabbed it, using the same hand that held her towel closed. For a moment the thought of her leaving the bathroom with just the towels made her face turn into a deep crimson.

 _But he had already seen me naked… the jerk._ Her crimson blush turned deeper with embarrassment.

Her free hand turned the knob of the door. When she exited the hallway looked completely different from before. Before the floor was a thin gray carpet, but now wood was beneath her bare feet, sucking the heat from them. The walls were once decorated with a floral wallpaper covered with thickly dusted picture frames, now they were wooden, a few pictures she recognized.

"What the hell!?" Layla gasped as she saw a picture of dark haired woman with her hair in a braid, her skin almost a dark caramel color with blue eyes. It looked like her mother before her Middle-Eastern skin color started to pale from being indoors for so long. In the woman's arms was a little newborn baby, its bright, electric blue eyes shining bright in the sight of the new world. "That's me… and… Mom…?"

"What the fricken hell is this damn place!?" Ford's voice demanded from a different room. Layla followed the voice and entered slowly in… her room?

It was the same exact room that she had lived in when she was in Gravity Falls. The bed was covered with a thick purple comforter, something she had begged her father to get her to replace the blankets that were sewn together from her too small of clothing as she grew up. Even the same romance novel that Rick had bought for her was on the nightstand next to the bed, a bookmark in the exact spot she remembered that she was reading.

"Why… why is my _room here?_ " Layla gasped in frustration as she tossed for his coat. She then went to a chest that was at the end of her bed, another object she begged her father for. She opened it seeing that old stuffed animals were still in there and old photo albums.

"W-we should get out of here…" Ford insisted, his voice wavering nervously, him putting on the slightly damp coat that Layla had tossed him.

The scenery began to change, much to Layla's surprise. Her bed was replaced with a bunk bed, although the clothing that she had seen on the bed for her were still there. She noticed a handmade poster of one five-fingered hand that read "Stanley" next to it in green while there was an orange six-fingered hand that read "Stanford" next to it. Her confusion then turned into terror as she then saw Ford's facial expression showing fully his confusion and fear.

"Do you know what the actual fricken hell is going on here!?" Layla hissed at Ford as she grabbed the clothes off the bed.

"Not a damn clue," he lowly replied. His eyes glaring around the room as it once began to shift. It began to look like an extremely spacious room. Around were long tables with posters scribbled with terrible handwriting about some bogus science fact. At the end of the room was two tables, one with a covered stained sheet that read "Stanley Pines" in the messiest handwriting that Layla had ever seen, and the table next to it had extreme elegant handwriting that read "Stanford Pines" and had a silver machine sitting on the table moving in a circle, its poster talking in great detail. "We're getting out of here," Ford stoicly said as he then grabbed Layla's wrist and dragged her out of the room. The last thing Layla saw in the room was that the silver machine had stopped with a small puff of black smoke.

Layla noticed as she was dragged through the hallway that it had once again changed, but it was almost like a combination of memories. To her it was almost like looking into the white hallways of Magum's facility, but there were also pictures of two toddler boys. It was all confusing and conflicting.

Layla was then put inside the bathroom. "Get dressed and we are leaving ASAP," Ford ordered her in a low rumble of a voice, him seemingly raising in panic. She could tell that he desperately wanted to leave, and she wanted to as well, but she didn't like the fact that he was treating her like that. So she had slammed the door in face, her immediately unwrapping herself from the towels, her body dry.

The clothing she had was similar to what she always wore. There was a pair of underwear and a bra for her, which she put on quickly. She also slipped on the pair of black slacks that were perfectly her size… it was so odd… as if…

 _Magum…_

Layla had to push that thought to the back of her head so she could slip on the purple turtleneck sweater. Her throat was then covered, which gave her such an odd comfort. She had never realized that the scar on her throat was so terrible… she had never bothered to look. Layla had always thought it was a simple scar, like on her hands and arms…

There were no socks, which she was used to, and she put on the rider boots that went just below her knee. They felt worn and comfortable, easier to run in. Quickly, she brushed through her damp hair wither her fingers, just trying to get whatever terrible tangles that wreaked havoc in her natural feathered hair.

"We need to start moving," Layla heard Ford continued through the door as she finished dressing. "You said we have to find your father's research, right?" As he had finished the sentence, Layla opened the door.

"Yeah…" Layla replied in agreement, her voice a little hard. "My thing though… how do I have clothes here?" she asked softly.

A sudden creak in the floorboards caused the fugitives to turn to the noise. A man with silver hair and a long silver beard, him wearing a brown coat with a black shirt made of nothing but strings with muddy pants and torn up shoes. Layla had grabbed a knife that she had found in her coat while Ford had grabbed his gun from his side, both ready to attack the strange person. But… he had hazel eyes and wore thick glasses… the weathered face looked familiar to Layla…

"Hello, Layla…" the man hoarsely whispered, his voice cracking with age.

Layla dropped her guard immediately. She _knew_ him…

"D-Dad…?" she gasped in disbelief. "I-is that you…?"

After sixteen years… her father was before her. She knew that Dr. Bartek had done so much wrong in the past… but she held on to the memories of when she was little, when her mother was still around. She remembered being happy to see her father and remembered his fond hugs and hair ruffles. It seemed after her left… in a way he did too.

"Dr. Bartek…?" Ford muttered in a mixture of anger and shock.

"Ah… so you're Bill Cipher's new target, eh?" the old man asked in an almost mocking way. "Stanford Filbrick Pines…"

"Ford," the brunette curtly told the old man. "Just call me Ford."

"Why not 'Stan'?" Dr. Bartek asked amusingly. It was like he knew something already…

"That's my twin's name," Ford answered, his voice rising with anger. "But… why the hell are you here?"

Dr. Bartek ignored Ford and stared at Layla, a smile on his face. "Ah, Layla, you look just like your mother…" he commented.

"I-I do?" the raven-haired woman softly said. "You've never mentioned that before…" she admitted. She knew there were similarities between her and her mother. The black hair, the blue eyes, although hers were much brighter. They even had similar facial features, except Layla had more of an upturned nose and had freckles on her face. Her mother also had tanner skin, her being part Middle Eastern-Israelite while Layla was a deathly European white from her father.

Dr. Bartek then ignored her and faced Ford. "And to answer your question, _Ford_ ," he had said Ford's nickname with such distain. "I built this place. It's a hideaway in the pocket dimensions, very similar to Earth. The technology I found goes into your subconscious and arranged the room to what you want, or what you really wanted to see."

 _Magum's… that's how Magum did things… did my father know_ him _!?_

Dr. Bartek then continues, "Like Layla wanted to see her room in Gravity Falls. You wanted to see your and your brother's room. Then it goes and takes bad areas from your past and brings them to haunt you." He then gives an almost insane smile. "Like I can see a room filled with corpses with amputated limbs. You…" he then pointed to Ford. "You saw a science fair… and they say _I'm_ odd. I like to psychologically mess with people… and you seem to be an interesting case, Ford."

Ford was red to the face with anger, him shouting, "How about you cut the bullshit, Dr. Bartek, just hand over your portal research so we make sure Cipher doesn't get it!"

An insane smile spread across Dr. Bartek's face, a rotten tooth grin. He then tilted his head to the side, as if he was purely innocent. "I don't have them," he said simply. Layla felt her heart drop. "I haven't had them for sixteen years."

Layla's heart dropped turned into pure fury, feeling her blood boil. After all these years of searching and he _didn't_ have them!?

" _WHAT!?_ " Layla's infuriated scream ripped through her throat. She then approached her father and grabbed him by the raggedy collar of his shirt. " _WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE THEM!?_ "

A deranged laugh erupted from the old man. "I don't have them… do I have to spell it out for you, my dear girl?" he laughed in a condescending way, as if she was a child. There it was again… a condescending tone from him. But then he said "my dear"…

 _Like Magum… God it's so creepy!_

"You're smarter than that, Layla Amelia Bartek," her father said condescendingly. Layla then released her father from her grip, although her anger as literally boiling over, him giving a small smile. "That's a good girl… but I've made my progress on my research…" he then continued.

" _What_ research?!" Ford demanded angrily. He raised his gun slowly to Dr. Bartek, Layla seeing that he would not hesitate to pull the trigger. She pleaded with her eyes for Ford not to go through with it. He lowered his gun when he had caught her gaze.

Dr. Bartek then reached into his torn brown coat, him pulling out a small vial of a bright green liquid. In a way the liquid illuminated its own light, giving the impression that it could possibly be radioactive. The old man held the vial in front of him, his hand almost shaking.

Layla felt her stomach knotted up, her blood roaring in her ears. She didn't like the way the vial looked. To her it looked so unnatural… to her it felt like so much was spilled for it.

"Dad…" she began lowly. "What did you _do_ …?"

A smile spread across the insane man's face. "I _found_ it, Layla!" he cried out, insane joy in his voice. "It took years… and a lot of those monsters and humans I had sent here… but I _did_ it!" Layla stared at him with wide and frightened eyes, her not being able to believe the words that were coming out of the man's words. "This…" his eyes darting to the neon green vial. "This can rearrange your genetic code, it can activate and deactivate codons and can help restore lost appendages, lost tissues…" His hazel eyes then darted to Ford's hands. "It can even _remove_ extra appendages."

Finally, Layla couldn't take it anymore. "How many people, humans and monsters, did you kill for this, Dad!?" she cried out. Her head ached as she remembered fuzzy memories of her father promising that it will never happen again… that it was a onetime thing. A recent memory of Colonel, another victim of her father's experiments. "You said you weren't going to that anymore when I was a kid… but you did anyway! I bet Mom left because of _you_ not _me_!" A thought came to her mind, and she couldn't help but say it aloud. "But why wouldn't she take me with her!? Why-!?"

A flash of a memory. A mangled body of her mother… torn limbs ripped viciously from sockets. Dried blood on the deathly pale skin of her face…

A gasp escaped her, her left hand going to her mouth as dread and realization hit her almost like a meteor hitting the earth. " _YOU KILLED HER, DIDN'T YOU!? YOU BASTARD!"_

Her father rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed at the accusation. "So what if I did…? The anomaly runs in her side of the family, she was a perfect genetic subject to see if I can help you. Layla, don't you see? I did this all for you sweetheart!" After the years of Layla traveling through the dimensions, she could tell by the way he had spoken that it seemed forced.

"You killed my mother!" Layla sobbed, her fully realizing that her father was indeed not the person she tried to make out to be in her head. She thought she could reason with herself that her father was still the man that loved her and hugged her close as a toddler. "You _lied_ to me saying that she hated me because of my hand, that I wasn't normal!" The raven-haired woman then grabbed Ford's gun from his hand, a grunt of surprise escaping him. "It wasn't for me you did this for… _who made you!?_ Was it Bill? Was it part of your deal, you had to do this by a certain point or you'll die or something?! Were you doing this all to save your _own ass_!?" She then pointed Ford's gun to her father's face, her electric blue gaze unwavering, and her hand still. "Tell me the truth. _NOW!_ "

A deranged cackle escaped her father's mouth. "My dear, dear, Layla Amelia… you want the truth…? Maybe _I_ didn't like your anomaly… I blamed Gravity Falls for years with its weirdness factor, and your mother was born there, so of course the oddities and anomalies was bred into her DNA… But Bill Cipher… he opened my eyes… to cure _anything_! Cancer could disappear, AIDS, bodily defects… people can become _gods_ … the more I experimented, the more I felt like _God_!" A deranged smile spread across his face as his hazel eyes seemed to spark with madness. "But why should I bless people with my research all willy nilly?! Bill Cipher had a plan… and he still does…

"He's right on how humans are pathetic sacks of flesh! HE WILL CLEANSE OUR WORLD AND MAKE IT BETTER! All I need to do to secure my future is hand you two in…!" he concluded as he pressed a button that was on top of the vial's cap. The room then began glowing a red, a loud siren blaring. "Now you two freaks can die for all I care!" he then cackled an insane laugh, his body arching backwards in amusement.

The raven-haired woman had no words for what her father said to her. She felt as if those wisps of her childhood memory were nothing but implants to her. Were they real? Or were they part of Bill's or even Magum's plan? There were no words… she knew what had to be done.

Layla pulled the trigger and a blue plasma of energy goes through the insane man's head, a man that she called her father. The hole took out his eyes and nose, destroying part of the skull, metal and brains oozing over the edge of the wound, a mixture or dark red and pink as blood and tissues splatted to the floor of the odd cabin. Dr. Bartek collapsed onto his knees and fell to the side, whatever remained of his blood and cerebral tissues trickling out.

The gun in Layla's hand shook and she dropped it, it making a thud on the ground. Her breathing became ragged and tears spilled over her eyes. She then collapsed onto her knees, putting her hand on the red light tinted floor, her body shaking with sobs.

Layla Bartek had killed her own father, a man who flat out told her he never cared for her truly and saw her as more of an experiment from the start. Was anything real anymore to her? Her mother was murdered by her own father, and she in turn had murdered her own father…

But was that justice…? Or did she slip to a new low, the same level as Dr. Bartholomew Bartek?

"Layla…" Ford finally whispered to her. "We need to go… we can't have Cipher catch us…"

Layla then stood up with a firm nod as she took a deep breath and let him take her hand to drag her out of the house. As the two drove away from the building with the Biker Pod. A few times Layla turned to look behind her, seeing nothing but tall warehouses. It was all a trap from the start… her father had planned everything.

She couldn't help what she did next, she felt that she needed the comfort. Layla then wrapped her arms around Ford as she drove. Slowly, she leaned into him, the smell woodsy smell of Ford actually comforting her. Layla sobbed gently as she the memories of her past became clearer and clearer.

The drugs that was injected into her for years to repress her memories… what Magum had said to her was true, and she didn't know if that disgusted her more or her father doing the actual act.

Layla closed her eyes as she felt the secure scent of Ford let her drift off to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** Once again this extremely long chapter, one that was originally 10,000 words, to separate parts once again! I am so sorry this had taken so long... watching "Smallville" and the "Gravity Falls" marathon was... distracting.

Also, I would like to inform that Layla Bartek has her own tumblr blog now! If you want to ask questions about the OC or anything pertaining to any of the fan-fiction I write, just give the tumblr **layla-bartek**.

Thanks for reading as always and thank you all for being so patient!

~Skye Hendersen~


	12. A Bond of Trust

**Chapter 12: A Bond of Trust**

Ford had taken her to a bar for what he called a "pick me up".

Gladly, she took every scrap of alcohol.

What she hadn't expected was Rick Sanchez making a second appearance. He had implied that somehow that Layla had her father's research, and rightly she was furious about it. Why would she have her father's research if she was _looking_ for it?

But when buttons were pushed by Rick, of course it infuriated Layla to no end. She had admitted that she had held onto the false hope that her father was still good, just being influenced by demons. He had always been a terrible person, the demons just had enhanced it, so the false hope she had of course was just a child's dream.

Ford of course had to stop the crossfire, something that Layla could tell was almost like a natural thing for him. If Layla had to guess it was that Ford was bullied as a child for his hands, something that she honestly didn't understand why he was made fun of for something completely out of his control, and that his twin probably got in fights with bullies while Ford played referee. Once Ford had broken up the fight between Rick and herself, Rick suggested going to a place where he knew someone so he could build something.

It was an old, tall building that was clearing used for technological research. Of course Rick was completely plastered, and it didn't help that Layla was as well. She had taken drinks with her from the bar, her chugging them down like sugary pop and throwing the bottles to the side.

As Rick worked on his little project, Ford let off his usual snide remarks to Rick being drunk while working.

"Maybe you should be sober before you tinker with things," Ford had suggested plainly.

"A-a-a-and you c-c-c-can shut the h-h-hell up!" Rick retorted, him throwing a piece of scrap metal against another.

Layla couldn't help but giggle drunkenly at the two bickering. It had almost felt like a… a normal thing that could happen.

Ford finally then noticed how drunk Layla was. He gave himself a face-palm as he muttered angrily, "Are you serious…? Next time I _won't_ take you to a bar, Layla. She had felt her balance go off, her ending up leaning on him, something that she had done on occasion before, but his reaction was different. "L-Layla…!?"

"M-m-maybe you should l-l-l-lighten up, S-S-Stanford," she giggled at him as she got yet another bottle of alcohol that she had stolen from the bar to show Ford.

"Y-y-y-yeah, get w-w-wasted, Sci-Fi." Rick then mumbled as he continued tinkering with a small black device on the table. "I-I-I-I-I'm g-g-g-gonna build you two you're o-o-o-own portal gun, t-t-that way you can escape Magum."

Ford scoffed, "I think one of us _adults_ should be sober in case something happens!"

Rick then rolled his eyes. "W-w-w-whatever, Sci-Fi, b-b-b-be a l-l-l-little bitch all y-y-y-you want," he muttered.

"I'm not arguing with you, Rick," Ford then stated as he gently pushed Layla off of him gently so that she could stand on her own. However, she just leaned back on to him.

"B-b-b-besides, Sci-Fi," Rick continued. "I know the p-p-p-" He then belched in midsentence. "P-person that owns this place… w-w-w-we should be fine." He then started putting the metal pieces together.

As Ford tried to walk away, Layla seemed to be glued to him. She couldn't really explain why she felt that she needed to, but she could tell in her drunken state that she _wanted_ to. Ford was annoyed with her, so he had dragged her to a small room to where she could sober up.

"Now lay down and sober up a bit, Layla," Ford ordered sternly.

"O-o-o-or what, Ford?" Layla then taunted drunkenly. She had tried to sit up from the couch she was forced on, but she ended up falling back down.

"Ugh… I don't know… I'll lock you in here," the dark brunette grumbled. He then pinched the corners of his eyes in annoyance.

Call it liquid courage, she ended up grabbing his hand and yanking him down next to her. Ford had yelped in shock, but she didn't care. All she wanted to was sleep, and the only time she slept peacefully was when she was near him. Once he was next to her she leaned on him, her eyes getting heavy as she fell asleep.

She didn't know how long she was asleep, to her it felt like a lifetime as she felt herself sober up, but what woke her up was the sound of Rick's yelling.

"H-h-h-hey, lovebirds!" the drunk scientist screamed, causing Ford to jump and Layla jumped and collapsed onto the floor, her heart pounding in her chest a million miles an hour. "I-I-I-I g-g-got the portal g-g-gun to work f-f-f-for-" a belch in midsentence. "-ya guys."

"Rick!?" a screech ripped through Layla's throat. She was surprised to see him there, and his statement about her and Ford made her want to blush a deep red and to beat the hell out of Rick. Lovebirds? Really? "What the hell are you talking about!?"

Rick rolled his eyes in annoyance. "W-w-w-w-well, sorry your d-d-drunk ass didn't p-p-pay attention," he stuttered drunkenly.

Layla could barely hide her blush, she felt that she had to get out of there. "Whatever," she scoffed as she pushed her way past Rick to leave the room. She stood outside the door for a few minutes, listening in on Rick and Ford.

"S-s-s-s-so, you and Layla?" she heard Rick say to Rick in an almost teasing way.

"What!?" Ford exclaimed in reply. "N-n-n-no, it's not like that, we're friends!" she heard him stutter. Was it out of nervousness?

In a way it almost made Layla's chest ache. But that's what they were, friends. They were nothing more, and nothing less. But is that what Layla really wanted?

 _Remember the last time you tried to think with your heart… it caused you years of pain and misery._

Rick then sarcastically replied to Ford, "Right, and JFK was just 'friends' with Marilyn Monroe…" He then mentioned giving back Ford his lighter, something that Layla knew was important to Ford.

That was when Layla walked away, not really wanting to hear anymore. As she walked through the hallways of the research facility, her boots clicked on the ceramic tiles, echoing in the seemingly empty building. However, she felt as if eyes were on her. It gave her an unpleasant feeling, it was almost like she was secluded to be all on her own.

Layla's pace picked up, her heart pounding. She then heard Ford's voice echo her name, her trying to get to him.

"Layla? Layla, if you're hiding, it's not funny." Ford called out, his voice bouncing off of the walls.

 _Hiding? Why would I be hiding?_

"Ford?" she called out. There was no response. But he had sounded so close when he called out… "Stanford?" she called out again, but there was still no response.

 _Something isn't right…_

What she heard next made chills shiver down her spine.

She heard Magum's taunting laugh, something that she heard many times before. Her heartrate picked up, her running through the halls as she heard Ford grunt in pain as there was a loud crash. She knew that Magum was using his telekinetic abilities on Ford, hurting him.

 _I have to find him… I have to find him…!_

She then heard Magum's silk fueled voice taunting Ford, _"How about that deal now?"_

 _DON'T DO IT!_

"You can take whatever deal you have and shove it up your ass!" Ford shouted back, his voice sounding pained and breathless.

An odd sensation filled Layla. A rage. A rage she had never felt before up until now. The sudden rage of someone she cared about being hurt by the monstrosity that was Magum.

She screamed, whatever it took to try to relieve that rage that was inside her. Layla screamed again as she finally rounded the corner and saw Magum standing over Ford, his hand outstretched to use his telekinesis to keep Ford to the ground.

"Leave him alone you psychopath!" Layla screamed fully in rage, her face feeling hot. She had grabbed a gun that she had pickpocketed from some poor sap at the bar, and she aimed it at Magum. Without a moment's hesitation she pulled the trigger, a blue plasma of light being released from the chamber of the gun and struck Magum in the square of his back, the blue light illuminating the dark hallway.

Magum turned around, his normally white soulless eyes now a demonic black, red flames starting to consume him.

Layla's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach, a sudden fear consuming her. She had to run. So, that was what she did, she turned tail and ran like a coward. But, hopefully it gave Ford enough time to recuperate.

Her heartrate caused the blood to roar in her eyes as she ran, her breathing in gasps mainly from the panic of Magum was after her. From the years of running she could run and breathe normally, but with the panic she had felt constricted and her body not fully getting the oxygen it needed.

There was a sudden green light and hum, something that momentarily blinded her, causing her to slow down slightly. It was enough hesitation for Magum to lift her from the ground with his telekinesis and throw her against the wall, her grunting as her back collided with the wall. She crashed to the ground, her trying to reach for her gun but when Magum tried to pick it up she managed to trip him and crashed to the ground.

Layla grabbed her gun securely and got on top of the demon, her trying to strangle him long enough to put the gun to his head. She managed to get the barrel to his head, but Magum kicked her in her stomach and she flew off, her feeling the wind knocked out of her, and the gun slipped out of her hand as she fell to her side in pain.

"I can't get into your mind, Layla," Magum commented to her, his tone taking on an almost sad tone. "I never could… Dr. Bartek put a different alloy of metal to hide his secrets in your pretty little head of yours."

"Well, Dr. Bartholomew Bartek is _dead_!" Layla then countered, her then suddenly remembering the figure who had helped her, it tapping the side of its head. Did it know something that she didn't? Even Magum implied that there was something, something that she was enraged about when Rick mentioned it. "So, you'll never get his research!"

Magum cocked his head to the side. "You're still going to try to protect him after what he did to you?" he said to her, his voice laced with taunting. "He never cared for you, he basically said that outright to your face, and you're going to sit here and still protect him?" as he spoke his voice got angrier and angrier, scarlet flames licking across his hands.

"I'm not protecting him," Layla whispered. "I'm protecting my world!"

Out of the corner of her eyes she had noticed that Ford went to raise his gun to Magum. Layla noticed with a slight flick of his eyes Magum stopped Ford in his tracks with telepathy.

"I do have to say, Stanford," Magum lowly growled. "I'm quite impressed on how far you have come in these dimensions. But… I'm afraid you are no longer any use to me… I can just let you rot out there and Cipher's henchmen will find you. As long as I have the portal research, I can spread my power across the whole multiverse.

"Bill thinks he has an advantage… he thinks he is all so powerful… but he forgets he doesn't have a physical form, that it was stripped from him long ago. I, however, am a being of flesh and energy, I can easily take over while he is in this weak state!"

Layla wanted to help Ford, but a sudden green light distracted her. It was a birhgt green circle in the middle of the wall, inside spiraling with some kind of energy. Rick stepped out with guns in his hands, a smirk on his face.

"S-s-s-sorry," Rick sarcastically began. "But I had come to the party with n-n-no presents…" he then raises a gun to Magum. "But I got some now!"

Magum had been surprised at Rick's sudden reappearance that the hold on Ford was weakened. Ford managed to pull the trigger and the plasma blast hits Magum in his neck. Magum roared in anger and pain, him about to use his hand flick Ford away when another beam hits him, this time from Rick. Then another from Layla.

 _LEAVE US ALONE ALREADY, YOU BASTARD!_

As Magum tried to hurt one person, the other would shoot, him becoming extremely frustrated. As red flames erupted from him in anger, Rick made an escape through his portal as Ford ran to Layla and grabbed her hand.

Layla felt a sudden blush on her face, but luckily for her it was still dark in the room as Rick's light from his portal evaporated.

Ford pulled Layla down the hallway where there was a window to the outside. They didn't have time to stop as Magum was on pursuit, his physic energy causing the walls to fall apart and surround him like some kind of shield.

 _Guess he finally got sick of being blasted everywhere._

Layla then finally noticed that the window was coming up fast, her feeling uneasy. "Ford?!" Layla gasped in horror when she saw him give some kind of smirk.

 _He's crazy!_

"You said not to trust no one, and I'm a firm believer on that…" Ford panted, Layla hearing his breaths coming in gasps. "But… you'll just have to trust me on this one."

 _Oh, he's not really thinking of jumping out is he!?_

The idea of jumping out a window was making her uneasy. She had jumped out of windows before, but they were only one or two stories high.

Ford then sprinted faster, forcing Layla to pick up her speed, her legs already starting to burn. Ford then put up an arm to shield his face and he braced himself for the impact of the window, Layla's eyes widening. His forearm crashed through the glass, the two humans tumbling out the window. The ground was coming up fast, Layla screaming and gripping Ford's hand tighter. Layla had always been uneasy with heights, but if she was in a controlled situation made by her she was fine. But, as the ground came up faster and faster, she found herself panicking.

Just as she had closed her eyes to brace herself to hit the ground and die, she felt like she was surrounded in water. She opened her eyes and saw that in fact that she was in water. Her hand was still tight around Ford's, his free hand holding up a small black device.

The two swam up to the surface and both gasp for air. They let go of each other's hands and swam toward the shore. Water, or whatever liquid it was, dripped off their clothes. Layla felt as if her whole entire body was made of lead, her legs feeling like jelly underneath her.

"Good thing Rick made that, huh?" Ford commented, him sliding some sort of small black device in his soaked coat. He then looked back into the water. "And hopefully Magum doesn't get to us…" he put a hand to his head. "It was like some kind of pressure… like I felt that he _was_ in my mind and messing with me…"

"But you're okay?" Layla asked him, her worried. She didn't realize how much Magum was messing with him. But then again… Bill had done so as well in the past. Having two demons in your head can ruin anyone's psyche.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" he retorted gently. "You had disappeared."

Layla cocked a black eyebrow, confusion settling in. "No… you're the one that had disappeared." Layla stated, her remembering how she had felt the world being empty around her. "Rick gave you your lighter and suddenly it was like you vanished." She kind of gave it away that she was eavesdropping, but she didn't care.

Ford then raised an eyebrow himself. "Wait… what? That makes no sense…" he gasped in shock and realization. "It must be part of his powers…"

"He is right about one thing…" Layla then whispered. "The mind is a terrible thing…" Even if Magum can't get into her mind or read it, he was still there from the years of torture he had done to her. Her entire psyche was practically ruined because of that demon. She then threw her arms around him, her noticing that his face blushed red. "But… I'm glad you're okay, Ford." She felt her own face blush.

Layla could tell that he was uncomfortable at the gesture, but slowly he put a hand to her back. After a moment's hesitation he returned the embrace. "I'm glad you're okay too, Layla." Ford gently says.

Layla felt herself make a small smile, her wishing that she could feel that safe for the rest of her life.

* * *

Within couple of hours the two had found themselves a cave, a small fire with pitiful kindling providing a small amount of light and warmth.

They had taken off their trench coats, hanging them to dry, and took off their boots. Layla felt disappointed that she just got these clothes and now they were soaked and smelly. If she was by herself she normally would have taken off her shirt and pants as well to dry, but of course with Ford there she couldn't do so.

Ford sat by the fire, tinkering with the small black device that Rick had given him. His brown hair was drying quickly, it starting to poof out and curl in certain areas. He had looked through their food rations, but had declared that they were waterlogged. He had asked Layla if she had ever been in that dimension, but she admitted that nothing looked familiar.

The dark brunette finally gave a huff and tossed the black device to the side, him putting his hands to the fire. He still had his black sweater clung to him, water still dripping off of it. Layla assumed he kept it on because of her, maybe thinking along the lines that if she couldn't take hers off then he wouldn't and suffer a wet sweater with her.

Layla sat the opposite of Ford, trying to be as close to the fire as possible to dry her sweater without her getting burned. She noticed that his brown eyes would linger on her more than usual, often staring at her waist and sometimes up. Layla tried to ignore his stares as she wrung out her long, black hair of water. She tried to untangle it with her fingers, her realizing just how long her hair was again.

 _I should cut it again…_

"You doing okay…?" Ford asked her gently, breaking her thoughts.

Layla looked up from her untangling. "Yeah… I'm doing okay," she replied. "But what about you…? Magum was really messing with you." She knew what Magum could do with his abilities, and sometimes she counted herself lucky that she had the metal plate in her head. But now she felt terribly guilty that she got Ford into this situation, forcing him to get the metal plate, thinking that he would be protected. It protected him from Bill, but not Magum…

Ford then threw a twig into the flames absently, the flames reflecting off his glasses and his eyes. "It is what it is," he finally said after a few minutes. "The metal can make sure Bill won't get into my head but Magum has full access," he continued, tapping his head in the process. "He mentioned he can't get into your head though…" he pointed out.

"My father must've used a different of metal that Magum can't read," Layla murmured softly, her guilt settling in again.

Ford then glances away from the flames, muttering mostly to himself about Magum and Bill. He was trying to figure out who her father made a deal with first.

"Well, we will never know," Layla butted in bitterly. "I shot that fricken asshole in the face." She was blunt and emotionless, but she didn't care. She felt like she needed a drink, and she knew a perfect place to get one. Layla got up from her spot, her toes squishing in her socks from them still being wet. Inside her coat in a deep pocket she had a bottle of her favorite liquor. A small smile spread across her face as she saw that it was her absolute favorite.

"How the hell do you keep a bottle in your coat!?" Ford shouted in bewilderment.

She gave a scoff as if it were obvious, "Same way I put everything in my coat, I have pockets." She then popped the cap off of the bottle and took a long swig. A combination of sweetness and bitterness with a hard hit of alcohol hit her throat, something that took a few years to find that it was her favorite. She then passed the bottle to Ford. "Here," she softly said.

Ford glances at the bottle, his brown brows furrowed with worry. "I don't think that's a good idea," he told her. He eyed the forced bottle of liquor in his hands, Layla able to tell that he was debating whether or not he wanted to have any.

She then gave him a mischievous smile. "C'mon Stanford, live a little!" she laughed as her smile big.

"I won't be living if I'm _dead_ from being attacked by some interdimensional monster while piss drunk!" he retorted angrily.

"Just a sip then?"

Ford then finally gave in and took a swig of it. His brown eyes widened as he coughed and started gagging from the alcohol.

Layla felt her face blush a red, her laugh filling the cave as she saw his grimace from the alcohol. She couldn't tell if it was from the alcohol or something else, but she was grateful that she was drinking. "Yeah, it's a little strong," she laughed as she took the bottle back from him and capped it.

"Yeah…" he replied as he gave her a hard glare. He continued to fiddle with some small black device and threw it angrily to the side. "I knew that Rick shouldn't have built this damn thing while he was drunk!" he shouted as the device hit the sand of the cave.

Layla sighed. She could tell that he was a little mad at her. Maybe she should've told him that it was a little strong. "This dimension can't be _totally_ empty… there had to be a town or something," she finally said.

Ford got up and grabbed his court, him shrugging it on. Layla could still see some water dripping off of the coat.

"Where are you going?" Layla asked in surprise.

"Like you said," Ford began. "This dimension can't be totally empty. "So, we should look around and find something."

As he talked Layla had got up and grabbed her damp coat and boots. Quickly she shrugged them on and out of the corner of her eye she once again saw Ford's stare linger longer than normal.

"What?" she questioned, knowing full well what "what" was.

"Uh, nothing!" Ford exclaimed a little too quickly. "We should get moving."

The two humans left the cave, the skies dark overhead as thunder rolled over head. Rain fell, the same type of liquid that the two had landed in when they first arrived in this dimension. The effort of drying their coats was useless, the rain soaked them through once more. Layla felt herself shiver from the chilling wind that began to pick up. In the distance there was a light, and when there was light there was civilization.

Once they arrived to the source of the light, it was like a large merchant town. Stands, stalls, and tents were set up everywhere, creatures of many kinds trying to sell their wares. It was a jackpot for supplies, guns, food, and new clothes… whatever they wanted and needed.

As they passed a stand that was selling what looked to be some of the most state of the art guns, Layla expertly snatched them. Quickly she handed one to Ford, his glance to her telling her that he thought she was crazy. Give or take that could be true.

"What is this place…?" Ford then asked, him taking on their new surroundings. Despite the suddenness of being given a new, he quickly hid it on his person. It was such a movement that Layla could tell was not practiced, but as if he had observed it from someone, and it wasn't here. As Ford looked around Layla snagged a few food items, her stomach growling on just how hungry she was. "Layla!" he hissed at her.

"We don't have money, Ford," Layla hissed back, her expertly putting food in the deep pockets of her coat. "We have to steal." She had stolen many things over the years, everything was taken to survive. This was no difference.

"You sound like my brother…" she heard Ford grumble.

As they walked past a stand, Ford suddenly stopped to take a look at. His eyes were widened with some kind of excitement, and Layla knew that it was different. What was he so excited for? She then looked onto the table and noticed a collection of various dice and boards with terribly tacky artwork.

"Oh, no…" she muttered, putting her left hand to her head. She recognized that terrible game from when Rick was staying at her house. _Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons_.

"Are those thirty-eight sided dice!?" Ford exclaimed excitedly, his voice cracking slightly, Layla seeing just how much child-like wonder he obtained so suddenly. In a way, to Layla, it was kind of refreshing given to his strict personality. "Does that mean you have an Earth game called _Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons_!?"

"Are you serious, Ford?" Layla growled. But then, she couldn't help but giggle as she saw his brown eyes practically sparkling like a small boy's.

As Ford chatted up with the merchant, Layla took a few things from the nearby stands. Some were otherworldly jewels, so she definitely took those. They could be useful to sell in other places. Once in a while Layla did buy things from small "Mom and Pop" shops as she felt bad for stealing from them.

Suddenly she heard Ford ask how much the game was. She snapped her head to his direction, thinking that he was about to do something stupid.

"One thousand blarfnorbs," the merchant replied to Ford's question.

Ford then asked confusingly, "Is that… a lot… or…?"

Layla then grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to the side. "What are you doing, you huge nerd!?" she whisper-yelled at him.

"What? It's a good game…" It sounded like he was really disappointed…

"Do you know what a blarfnorb is!?" she then demanded.

"No…"

"Well neither do I! So it can't be good!" She ended up walking away, hoping that statement would just make Ford leave the nerdy board game alone. Layla walked over to a different stand that was selling different coats and boots, and she was tempted to take the boots. Nothing to her was worse than wet shoes.

As she was about to snag something when all of a sudden Ford came running by her. Before she could react to anything he had grabbed her left hand and continued on running, forcing her to get a move on.

"What did you _do!?_ " she screamed angrily at him. Did he really steal that _stupid_ game!? "Did you steal that that stupid, nerdy board game!?" she then demanded.

"No!" he shouted back defensively, trying to weave through stands to avoid the plasma blasts that were being shot at them. "I stole an infinite sided die…"

 _"_ _A WHAT?!"_

Suddenly, Ford crumpled forward, almost taking Layla with him crashing to the ground. He looked dazed and confused, but Layla saw a burning hole in the back of his leg. The wound was about the size of a baseball, the hole going straight through muscle and bone, blood pouring profusely from the wound.

"Oh my God, Ford!" Layla shouted in panic at the sight of the wound. "S-stay calm okay…? I'll get us out of here…" She didn't like the sight of blood. It made her nauseous and uneasy. Ever since Magum the sight of blood reminded her of him, and they were unpleasant memories. But, she had to get Ford to safety and to treat his leg or he will bleed out. And her panicking wasn't going to help.

Ford then groaned, "What're you…?" He had then looked at his leg, finally seeing the wound. It was like just seeing it brought all the pain and sudden panic to him. "Oh my… oh my God… I-I don't f-feel well…" he shakily said, his face paling to a deathly pale.

"FORD! Don't pass out okay!?" Layla ordered as calm as she could, but her voice was still shaky. "You're going into shock!" All the memories of looking in first aid and CPR books from her father's bookshelf came flooding back. What she needed to do was stop the bleeding, and if she couldn't do it with direct pressure or pressure points she'd have to use a tourniquet.

But she couldn't do anything with those merchants blasting at her!

They were surrounded by guards and merchants alike, them all pointing their weapons at Layla and Ford. She grabbed the new gun that she had stolen earlier and aimed ahead of her. Sadly, she knew this kind of situation quite well, except the only difference was that there was a dying man that needed immediate medical attention.

Her electric blue eyes narrowed as she aimed, the plasma rifles around her sifting into a more attack position. With no more hesitation she pulled the trigger, the blue plasma blast shooting from her gun as it hit square in the chest of a guard, sending it flying, spreading its blood.

Layla managed to get to Ford and used a free arm to drag Ford to safety, her blasting with the other. Her plasma blasts hit the guards, their blood splattering on each other, acting as an acid and eating through their skin. The screams filled Layla's ears, but she didn't care, she had to get Ford to safety.

"You're going to be okay, Stanford, I got you!" she told him, trying and failing to stay calm. Adrenaline filled her veins as she managed to lift Ford enough to drag him quickly. She had managed to get him behind a large thing of crates, trying to hide and be safe so that she could help him. After a moment of making sure that they weren't being followed, she tried to calm her breathing. She glanced at Ford, and she noticed how deathly pale he was, him almost looking like a sheet of paper. Her eyes went to the wound on his leg, seeing that the blood was nothing but a trickle now. "Oh, no! Oh no, no, no, no…!" she stammered in panic, fear gripping her heart. "Oh no, Ford!"

She tried to find anything to use as a bandage, but of course being in an alleyway there was nothing. The only thing that could be used as a fabric was… clothes. So, she stripped off her sweater quickly after shrugging off her trench coat, her not caring if she was only in her black bra, and began to rip strips from the sweater, the ends loose from the yarn unraveling. She then began to use the strips to go above the wound sight, finding a metal pole near the wall of the building and tied it to the fabric. The last step was twisting the pole, cutting off circulation between the heart and the wound.

"Ow..." Ford groaned weakly. "That's a little… tight…" he then hoarsely whispered.

"It's supposed to be, dummy," she retorted lightly, trying to make a joke. Her heart was still racing from the situation, she was surprised that she even remembered how to any first aid. She may never have been properly trained but she had read enough books to teach classes a hundred times over.

Ford then weakly went inside his trench coat pocket, taking out a small black box. Slowly, he popped it open and inside was a die, its sides changing shapes and different symbols showing up every couple of seconds. For a second one symbol looked like Magum…

"At l-least I got it…" he whispered, his brown eyes barely focusing on anything. "… now… hopefully B-Bill or M-M-Magum will n-never find it…" His eyes then fluttered shut and his body went limp, his breathing shallow.

"STANFORD!"

* * *

Layla had managed to get Ford to what looked to be an abandoned warehouse, his body nothing but a deadweight.

She tried to get him as comfortable as she could, having his head propped up on whatever she could find. He was still very deathly pale, his pulse feeling weak and faint. It felt as if a hand was gripped over her heart, feeling constricted. What if he didn't make it through? The thought of that made the constricting of her heart tighter.

 _I don't want to be alone again…_

For most of her life she was alone. Her mother was killed by her own father, leaving her alone. As she grew up, sometimes she would be outside talking to the strange creatures of Gravity Falls, thinking of them as almost like imaginary friends, since her father of course deluded her saying they weren't real. Of course when Rick had come to stay with her and her father, she might've thought of him as a friend if he hadn't been such an asshole except on her sixteenth birthday.

She had grown so used to Ford's company, so used to his small gestures, his snoring, the way he pondered while thinking about something… just everything. Just him being around improved her morale, the loneliness seemingly evaporated. It felt like she was able to trust him, something she thought she would never do again.

Layla didn't want to be alone again, not after having the comfort of a friend by her side.

She then took a rag from a bucket and rung out the excess water, the liquid feeling cool to her skin. A side glance with her eyes and she could still tell that Ford was still a stark white, his brown hair matted to his head. Gently, she put the cool cloth to his forehead, his eyes suddenly fluttered open with a soft groan escaping him, his brown eyes trying to focus, his glasses crooked on his face.

The moment his eyes opened Layla couldn't help but feel tears in her eyes. She didn't care how awkward it was, she threw herself on top of him, wrapping her arms oddly around his torso, tears falling freely. She felt so happy that he was awake, her body shaking with sobs. Layla then felt a tentative hand go on the small of her back to comfort her.

After a minute or two, Layla composed herself and then hovered over him. She had a smile on her face, still happy that he was alive. But, a sudden anger built up in her. "You…" she barely whispered, but then she let the rage take over, seeing Ford flinch. "You… _IDIOT!_ " The woman then slapped him across the face, it wasn't hard, but it was enough to startle him. "Why would you _do_ that!? I… I thought you were going to die…" She felt the tears once again.

"I'm sorry…" Ford apologized, his voice sounding sincere. "I didn't mean to make you worry…" After Layla had got off he tried to sit up, him hissing in pain.

"No, Ford!" Layla chastised. "You shouldn't be moving, you're still bleeding from your wound!" _Barely…_ She added silently to herself.

Ford gasped, "W-wound?" He looked down to his leg, seeing that Layla's purple sweater was wrapped around his leg, the blood soaked through. "Oh…" he then whispered. He looked between his leg and Layla, Layla suddenly feeling uncomfortable and gripped her trench coat tighter around her. "Oh, you're shirt, Layla…"

Layla still hadn't gotten a replacement sweater after bandaging Ford. It didn't feel right to leave Ford while he was unconscious where there was a high possibility of him dying.

"I'll get a new one," she assured him, tightening the coat. "I was waiting until you woke up so I can get some healing ointment."

Ford raised a brown brow. "Healing ointment?" he questioned her. "Why didn't you get it before?"

Layla's face blushed a deep red. "I-I had to make sure you didn't die…" she then stammered. "Now that you're awake… I can go get it. These parts of the multiverse have extreme medical advances here…" Layla leaned on the wall, recalling of some talk from the passerby shoppers at the bazar.

The room they were in was the warehouse that she had managed to drag Ford into. After getting him stable she had walked around the facility, her discovering that it was one of her father's old slaughterhouses.

Bodies had filled rooms, rotting tissues and muscle long ago decayed. Bones littered across the floors, them no longer intact but splintered into unrecognizable shapes. It had made her sick to her stomach seeing that before her, her body practically wanting to reject the DNA that was half of her father's.

It didn't get better when she had found a blue journal.

Inside was heavily detailed entries about the victims. How they were plucked from nearby cities around Gravity Falls, or in northern California, taken by families that had "Missing Person" reports scattered across the country. Each entry was worse than the last, and few mentioned how demons attacked those with weak and dying souls and combined into worse monstrosities.

"I… I also found this…" Layla finally said, grabbing that blue book that rested to her left side. "It's a journal… and… a _very_ detailed one about his victims. My father seemed to send his failed experiments to these dimensions, testing out his portal. He met a few of them here… them bleeding and dying as their bodies started morphing into demonic creatures. Demons like to prey on weak souls… so they preyed on the victims… causing them to become bloody demons themselves…"

It looked as what Layla had explained was being processed in Ford's mind. After a moment he glanced around. "So… is this one of the alcoves?" Ford guessed.

"No… this is a warehouse. But my father seemed to… continue his experiments here." Layla explained. The raven-haired woman then moved from the wall and grabbed an extra blanket that was lying around and threw it over Ford to keep him warm. "I'll be back, okay?" she told him, her voice wavering slightly. She then took the gun from her side that she only used just a day before. "I _will_ be back…" she said again, this time a little more confidently, trying to reassure herself. As she strode her way to the door, she made a final glance towards forward, noticing his worried, brown eyes behind his glasses. "W-what?" she stammered.

"Just come back, okay?" he told her, his eyes looking warm, a small, but sad smile on his face.

That was what did it for her, she knew that was when she knew she had feelings for him. He was sweet and caring, and always very concerned for her. Despite him not liking her drinking he always took care of her while she was drunk.

Layla then gave a brilliant smile as she ran back and crouched to give Ford an embrace. "I _will_ come back!" she said to him, her confidence skyrocketing. After her quick embrace with him she left the warehouse, determined to get the ointment for him.

 _I will come back… for him._

* * *

The large research hospital was scrubbed clean and a stark white, almost blinding.

Layla had managed to find articles relating to a hospital with a sample of a new drug that could heal skin tissues, bones, and muscles. She thought it was perfect for Ford's injury, so she had to get it.

She had waited until closing hours, where there were only guards. The article had stated that the doctor was a top researcher was going to be out of town due to traveling to a different city for a press conference relating to the drug. There were two samples one of the drug, one was with the doctor and the other was inside a vault within the building.

 _And I'm going to get it._

Her black boots clicked against the white floors, her nose filled with the smell of sanitizer cleaner. She had never been to a hospital before, so around her it felt odd, it felt too clean. It seemed like her black boots would make stains on the white, but they left not mark.

Layla had found a service desk and snatched a map, a while avoiding a security guard's flashlight. Quickly, she raided the desk she hid behind, looking for a flashlight herself. She found a small one that was in the back of a drawer, it caked with a thick layer of dust. The raven-haired woman poked her head above the desk, seeing the guard walking away. With a click of the button on the flashlight, a small beam illuminated a small spot in front of her.

With the newfound light Layla searched the map, looking for the doctor's office. From her personal experience with her father, Magum, and even Bill, what was most important was kept where they mostly worked. The route to the doctor's office was crystal clear, she just had to make her way there without being called.

Luckily her clothing was black, including her hair, so she blended with any shadows. The problem was everything was white, so in any light she stuck out like a sore thumb. As she made her way through the halls, duking into shadows and open rooms, she found a room filled with extra clothing. She managed to find herself a sweater that would fit her, a dark navy blue. Feeling comfortable, she left the secured room with a sense of hurry.

Her body smacked against something large and almost hairy. When she looked up to begin to fight her way out, her mouth went agape a filled her veins with icy fear.

In front of her was a large, almost humanoid spider.

The body was large and hairy, a dark brown that looked like the very Earth's soil, eight legs protruding from the body. The torso was human, long and slender, it appeared to be female as there was development in the breasts. However, the head, was nothing but pincers and multiple black, beady eyes.

Her heart pounded in her chest, the palms of her hands tingling with numbness. She hated spiders, she absolutely hated them. Ever since as a child being in the old, dirty cabin, she hated the fact that the spiders ran free, crawling everywhere… the walls, the ceilings, and her body. As a child she had terrible nightmares of being stuck in a web with no means of escape.

The eight legs clicked along the floor towards her. Normally, she would run away or fight back, but at that moment she was frozen with fear. Beady eyes stared into her soul, them blinking slowly, as if observing her. The numbness spread to her legs and she collapsed onto her back, her gasping with surprise. A shadow came over her, the body of the monstrosity over her.

"You are breaking and entering, human," the spider monster informed with a raspy sounding voice. "That is a violation of Alpha-890 Law-43."

"I-I-I-I-I don't know w-w-w-w-what that i-i-i-i-i-is," Layla stammered, her fear causing the blood to roar in her ears. "Pl-please, I just need to h-h-h-help my f-f-f-friend… he got hurt, and I need an ointment that c-c-c-c-can heal him…"

"Wait a minute…" the raspy voice interrupted. The beady eyes blinked multiple times, observing. "You're that human doctor's daughter… you're the daughter of Dr. Bartek…"

"H-h-h-how do you k-k-k-know him?" Layla inquired, her voice shaking.

One of the legs then touched her, pinning her down to the floor by Layla's chest. The wind felt like it was pushed out of her lungs, making her feel like she couldn't take a breath. Layla couldn't struggle, the fear in her veins keeping her frozen in place.

The pincers were then dangerously close to her face as the voice shouted, "How do I know him!? He is the one that did this to me!"

 _Of course he did…_

"Why take it out on me!?" Layla then screamed, the mention of her father once again turning a person into a monster heightening her confidence and the fear dissolving. "He's the one that did it! Besides, that bastard is dead! I killed him myself!"

"A daughter killing her own father…? How interesting…"

"It doesn't matter! I don't agree with his thinking!" Layla shouted angrily. "Why are you even in this research facility anyway!?"

The spider woman then released Layla, her finally able to breathe normally. "They are researching a way to _reverse_ this." The creature then went to a nearby wall, seeing a red button and pressing it with one of the spider legs. An alarm began to blare loudly, causing Layla to cover her ears. "I suggest you leave, or you'll get caught," the spider woman snickered.

Layla, with all fear of the spider drained from her, jumped up and began running. Remembering the route that she needed to take to that doctor's office, she dodged guards that were swarming around her, guns raised. She ended up taking her own gun out, ready to fire if needed.

 _I have to get that medicine…! Ford could be dead by now for all I know!_

Her breaths became gasps as her panic started to rise, it felt like she was going in circles as she had to make a wrong turn to avoid a plasma blast. A few times she was grabbed behind, but she managed to twist her body to get out of the grapple, her doing a fan kick to get them away from her and for them to crash to another guard.

Eventually she made her way back to the original route, but she was suddenly stuck in something sticky and couldn't move. She lifted her foot off the ground, seeing that her boots were covered in some kind of webbing. Panic rose in her chest, realizing that her childhood nightmare was coming true: Her being stuck in a web.

"You really think you can escape?" the spider woman rasped, her legs clicking on the white walls, a thick webbing incasing the path behind her. "I think it would only be justice if you suffer just like your father's experiments!"

"You think I haven't suffered!?" Layla screamed in despair. "Ever heard of the demon Magum? That's who I've been dealing with for years!"

"Magum…?" the spider woman hissed. "No, I have not heard of that one… you are making it up!"

"WHY WOULD I DO THAT!?" the raven-haired woman screeched. "Why would I make up being tortured and… and…" She couldn't bring herself to say the word. Tears stung her eyes as she put a hand to her neck, the first of many wounds for dealing with Magum. She had to get out of the webbing, she just had to! No more self-pity, she took her gun and blasted the webbing around her and the web under her boots, them disintegrating into flames.

"You little-!"

"I don't give a damn!" Layla shouted as she then aimed the gun at the spider woman. "Consider this me releasing you from your suffering." Layla pulled the trigger and the plasma blast hit square in the human torso of the spider woman. The creature screeched painfully as a combination of thick purple and red blood poured from the wound, the legs beneath her buckling.

Layla didn't have time to see if the creature was dead or just injured, she had to get that ointment. She continued down her route, the alarms still blaring around her, but she tuned them out. She will not let herself be distracted, she needed to help Ford before it was too late. As she rounded a corner she punched a guard in its jaw, its helmet that covered its features cracking. Layla ignored the pain in her hand and continued running as the guard was distracted.

Finally, she had made it to the doctor's office, her running into the door practically. Frantically she tried turning the knob, but of course it was locked. In the past she would have lock picked it, but she had lost those tools long ago and there wasn't enough time to find a substitute. Layla aimed her gun at the door knob, aiming for the locking mechanism and pulled the trigger. The door creaked open and she rushed inside, slamming the door behind her and began to barricade it so the guards had trouble getting in. It was fine for now, but when she had to leave it would be a problem.

Layla began to search around her, looking for anything that could lead her to a safe with the ointment. First she searched the desk, looking for any secret compartment or button. Nothing was there and with frustration she kicked the desk, denting the wood with her boot. During her search it didn't help that the guards were pounding into the door and there plasma shots shooting through any crack that was managing to get through. She could feel that she was running out of time, either she was going to get caught or Ford was going to die.

A plasma blast went through a crack and it would've hit Layla if she hadn't dodged it just in time. The blast hit a picture of a beautiful sunset and the picture came crashing down, the frame splintering. But it was a good thing as there was a safe hidden behind the frame. Layla rushed to it, seeing that it was a fingerprint scanner.

As a child Layla did read a few spy themed books, and one of the books had a similar situation. In one of the books the agent was stuck in a cage that could only be opened by the captor's thumbprint. The agent then took out some kind of powder and tape, putting the powder on the scanner and then putting the tape over the dust. The dust would cover the natural oil that is found on the skin and when the tape went over it, it acted as the skin and activated the scanning mechanism to recognize the print. All Layla had to do was find some powder and tape and she'll get it.

She searched through as quickly as she could, her managing to find a small thing of powder that was used to coat certain metals to keep them in pristine condition. Now she just needed tape… but when she searched she found none. Layla began to feel frustrated, the door almost caving in from the guards. As she stepped forward her foot got a little stuck, her lifting her foot to see that there was still webbing under her boot.

Layla gasped in realization as she peeled the sticky substance from her boot and managed to get a ball of it. It should suffice as like tape… but there was only one way to find out. As quickly as she could she got the powder on the scanner and placed the ball of web over it, pressing down. There was a rapid amount of beeps and something clicked. The hatch opened and inside was a small canister of the ointment.

The raven-haired woman quickly grabbed it and stuffed it into her trench coat. Now that she got it… she had to escape. Her only way out was barricaded and it was almost crashing down, the plasma blasts continually getting closer and closer to her as they began to get more of the door broken. As she stepped back to try to think of a plan, her foot sunk into the floor slightly, another clicking sound activating. She spun around and saw that the desk began to lower, opening a small door.

Without a second thought she went through it, seeing that it was a special stairwell. She descended the stairs with new profound speed. Everything was lit with some kind of torch, the walls made of stone as was the stairs, her boots hitting the stone echoing around her. She had a feeling that the guards didn't know about this as there was no one there, her thinking that it had to be an emergency escape route for the doctor.

As she descended she heard the desk move back in place, sealing her inside. Just as it sealed she heard the door break open, the guards most likely piling in. It may take a few minutes for them to discover the secret door, so it bought her a tiny bit of time. The stairwell made its way to a small cave, her shutting the door behind her. Just to be safe she put something in front of the door, hoping that if the guards did follow her they couldn't get through. She exited the cave, her eyes adjusting to the industrial lights around her, the sky still dark.

Layla took the ointment out of her coat, seeing the bottle reflect the light. Quickly, she put it back and made her way back to the warehouse where she had left Ford.

 _Please still be alive…!_

* * *

She entered the warehouse breathless, her heart pounding in her chest and the blood roaring in her ears. Quickly she made her way to the small room where she left Ford. As she got closer she could hear his loud snores, which for once she was glad to hear as it meant that he was alive. Layla entered the room, seeing Ford covered with the blanket she left him, sweat beaded on his face, his dark brown hair plastered to his face.

Ford was still deathly pale, him most likely still slowly bleeding out. Layla rushed to his side, moving the blanket to get to his leg. Clumsily she grabbed the ointment from her coat and uncapped the top, her beginning to spread the pale green substance on his leg. Instantly she was seeing the wound start to close, her body feeling like it would drop to floor with relief.

After a few hours of his leg healing and just as she was beginning to relax thinking that Ford would be okay, he abruptly sat upright, making her nearly scream with surprise. Ford gasped in surprise, the color slowly returning to his face.

"Stanford…?" Layla said to him cautiously, not sure if he was delirious and would attack her.

"Layla?" Ford replied, his confused expression then spreading to a large smile. "You came back! That was fast!" he cried out happily.

Layla noticed his brown eyes looked a bit hazy, as if they were still not completely focused. That and he would never be this happy… She then looked at the tube of ointment with a cocked black eyebrow. "I wonder if this is making you high…" she wondered aloud.

Ford then very clumsily and quite dramatically put a hand to his chest. "What…?" he gasped dramatically. "Never did drugs in my life and I was in school during the seventies!" He then wagged a finger as if he was a parent scolding a child. "That's a no-no!"

Layla couldn't help but laugh at him, her completely amused on how his personality flip-flopped from his normal demeanor. "No… this actually _does_ give you a high… you're high, Stanford," she laughed at him. She then checked his leg once again, only seeing a hole in his pants, the wound fully healed. "Better then you dying that's for sure…" she then mumbled.

"But you came back!" Ford cried out happily again, for some reason he was really excited to see her. "That's great! And I only closed my eyes for a second!"

"Ford…" Layla began. "I was gone for an hour… you were snoring when I came back, and it took at least another four hours for your leg to heal." She made sure to keep her gaze on his so that he had something to focus on. "I'm assuming because of your blood loss that your high is stronger…"

Ford then gave a stubborn huff, "I don't snore."

Layla couldn't help but give him a mischievous smile. He seemed to really dislike the fact that he snores. "Yes you do," she told him seriously. "And very loudly too.

After an hour or so of Ford resting and drinking plenty of water to sober his high, he ended up testing out his leg to see if his strength had returned. A few minutes passed and he ended up going inside his trench coat and pulled out a small black case. Ford opened it and revealed a small die, its sides constantly changing.

"Why did you grab that, Ford?" Layla then asked, her gaze resting on the constantly changing die.

For a moment he had hesitated, but he then explained, "I… I figured with something as dangerous as this that Bill or even Magum shouldn't try to get their demonic hands on it…" His brown gaze never left the die, the changing symbols reflecting off of his glasses. "One of their minions could've stolen it and gave it to them, or rolled it themselves." Ford then shut the case, the die safely contained, and put it back in his trench coat. "Hopefully I made the right choice… I didn't mean to make you worry," he then sighed.

Layla couldn't help but think that maybe he had been right to steal it. Better for him to have something that could potentially destroy the universe. But, it still made her extremely upset that he would just disregard his own safety.

"Hey, it's okay," Layla finally said. "I know in your heart you believed you were doing right." However, she was still angry at him for scaring her and then punched him forcibly in the shoulder. "But, you were still and _idiot_ for doing that!"

"OW!" Ford screamed in pain, his free hand going to his injured shoulder.

"What if I didn't get us out of that situation!?" Layla began hysterically, her beginning to pace around the room. "What if I hadn't found my father's cursed warehouse full of damn dead people in the other rooms!? What if I didn't manage to find a medical facility!?" She felt tears sting her eyes when she thought of the worst case scenario. "What if… what if I had come back and you were _dead_ , Stanford?" Layla had felt her hysteria rise with each passing word, the idea of losing someone she really cared about cutting her on the inside, an almost unbearable pain.

Ford had been nervously scratching behind his head, most likely thinking how much he just put her through. "Hey… I didn't mean-" he tried to say, but Layla was not having it.

"NO!" she screamed, either in anger or hysteria from being so worried about him she couldn't tell herself. "I don't _care_ that you 'didn't mean to'!" She then gave him such an icy look that he went rigid. "You're supposed to be intelligent right, Mr. I Have a Gazillion PhD's?!"

"I have twelve-"

"You should've _thought_ the whole thing through!" Layla insisted. "I could've stolen it while you distracted if you had just _told_ me!" She felt her walls that she had built up for so long begin to crumble, her about to ask the question that she thought she would never ask anyone, "Do you even _trust_ me?"

For years Layla trusted no one due to her father. For years she trusted no one after Magum. But when she did open up it felt like it was a constant attack on her. Her contact Kerum had betrayed her so that he could make an extra buck by turning Ford in. However, this time, it felt like she had really begun to trust Ford, and to her it felt like a little more.

She noticed how his gaze would land on her. His face almost looked confused, like the fact that he was doing it confused him. Her guess what that he probably was never close to a female before, and the thought never had crossed his mind about females when he had his research to do. But each time his gaze lingered on her for more than a few seconds, it embarrassed her, not because she didn't _like_ the gesture, but the face that she _did_ like the gesture from him and the possibility that he found her attractive.

"Of course I trust you," Ford finally replied, honesty filling his voice. "I… I just didn't think it through… that was all my fault." As he said that he finally broke her powerful gaze. "I wouldn't want you to feel guilty if I got myself killed for something."

 _I trust you…_

They both had been firm believers that they were to trust no one. But now finally, they both had something they could trust and rely on.

Layla then went over to him and kneeled down. Her heart raced in her chest, but she didn't care. She then wrapped her arms around his torso, her being on her knees as her head rested on his chest since she was so short. Layla could feel and hear Ford's increased heartrate, in a way it was calming her. She then tilted her head up to see that his brown gaze was looking down at her, what surprised her was that Ford removed a few strands of her black hair away from her face to tuck behind her ear.

"I trust you," he said again, a lot more confidently.

"I trust you too, Stanford."

* * *

 **A/N:** Over. 10,000. WORDS! I'm so sorry that this took so long to write and post!

Hopefully there is only two more chapters after this without splitting long chapters. Normally I would've split this chapter into 2, but I figured because of a lack of updates I would keep this as is.

But, now we know how Layla got the medicine for Ford!

I have been getting messages about questions regarding to the fanfictions I write or where they can show me fanart, so if any of those apply to use please refer to the tumblr **layla-bartek**!

Thank you all for understanding and thanks for all of the support as always!

Thanks for reading!

~Skye Hendersen~


	13. A Love for a Pines

**Chapter 13: A Love for a Pines**

As the next few weeks went by Layla found herself more and more prone to wanting to be by Ford's side, feeling much happier when around him.

She drank a little less, and by little less it meant she didn't get piss drunk. After a few small prods she was able to get a little story from Ford about him and his twin brother as children. He would often tell a few tales of the two as children, him smiling and being happy to tell them.

Which was why it always made Layla angry the way Ford disregarded his brother.

"He's not as intelligent as myself." Ford would say whenever she asked if Stanley would repair the portal to get Ford back.

It seemed to offend her that he would disregard his twin's intelligence. Layla never had siblings herself, she had always wanted on to ease the loneliness of that cabin, so for Ford to not care what his twin was doing really ticked her off. He was lucky to be born into the world with an automatic best friend!

But now it made her wonder what they had fought about in the first place…

Of course they argued about the fact, her being told that she couldn't understand. Not only was he disregarding his brother's intelligence, but hers as well. It also didn't help that they argued in an alleyway about half a block away from Bill Cipher himself trying to recruit new followers.

But when Ford admitted that he shouldn't be saved because he wasn't worth it, Layla had to scream back that his brother though he was. She had wanted to say that she thought he was worth it too, but she was too angry to say it.

Eventually, Layla got sick of arguing and grabbed Ford by his forearm and dragged him away from the now ended recruitment meeting. She felt stoic and angry at the same time, she didn't want to say another word to Ford but at the same time she wanted to scream at him to just somehow forgive his brother.

"Um… Layla?" she heard Ford gently call to her. She stopped and gave him such a blank expression that he looked like he flinched. "Can… can you let go of my arm now, please?"

Layla did as she was told. She then adjusted her goggles to be over her eyes and moved her scarf to cover most of her face, only exposing her freckles and her nose. In a way she was trying to hide her expression from Ford…

"L-Layla?" Ford then stammered, getting her attention. "I'm sorry for yelling at you back there… and it's not because I think that my brother is an _idiot_ , because he isn't… he's smarter than me in a lot of things that I couldn't even imagine… it's just… I'm not worth it. After all I have done, I deserve to be here… you certainly don't deserve to be here." He was rambling, him putting a head behind his head nervously, something that Layla picked up on that it was his habit when confused or nervous.

Layla couldn't help but stand there for a moment, dumbfounded that he apologized. She laughed, not because what he said was funny, but because she was happy that he apologized for screaming at her, something that her father or Magum never would have done. Layla then removed her goggles and scarf, feeling her face slightly warm from a blush, and she gave a smile.

"Well… your brother probably thinks you're worth it… and so do I." She felt her face turn even redder as she attempted to cover her face back up. Before Ford could say anything to her she went along the alleyway and ripped down wanted posters of them.

A couple of hours later after traveling to a different dimension through a natural portal opening, Layla had a basket filled to the brim of things she was going to steal for them. However, she felt like they were going to be caught because of Ford's constant glancing around.

"Ford," Layla hissed when she finally had enough. "Stop looking around like that… you're going to make us look suspicious…"

"We're two people dressed in black trench coats, wearing goggles, and we are wearing scarves," Ford pointed out. "How we are not on the floor being shot at I have no clue."

Layla then slapped his arm. "Well, don't jinx it dummy!" she chastised as she continued to put things in the basket. She had multiple things that resembled fruit, although many were glowing and had spiked thorns that were beginning to grow something that looked like flowers. The raven-haired woman noticed that Ford had wandered away from her, causing her to sigh with irritation. The last time he did that he ended up nearly on his death bed…

As she looked for him, she gently called out his name, all the while taking things for her basket and for her coat. After a few minutes she finally spotted him, although he looked like he was about to fight someone.

 _Oh, no…_

As fast as she could without dropping the contents of her basket, she went to Ford, seeing his brown eyes wide behind his glasses before he turned around as if he had heard something. "Ford!" she had called out, but the reaction she got was what she didn't expect. He had side swept behind him, tripping Layla. With a small yelp she crashed to the ground, spilling her basket and all the things in her coat, getting attention from merchants that she was stealing. Her scarf and goggles fell of her face, some merchants saying that they recognized her from a poster.

"Oh, shit!" Ford gasped when he realized that it was her that he tripped. He then offered her a hand as merchants began to grab for weapons. "I'm so sorry! I didn't realize it was you!"

Layla grabbed his hand and hoisted herself up. She kept her hand gripped to his and began to run, causing him to gasp as he was being tugged, and all her stolen items being left behind.

"Told you not to make us look suspicious!" Layla shouted at him angrily as she led them to an alleyway to hide. She then grabbed the newer gun that she had stolen back when Ford had stolen the die from her holster, it looking futuristic and high tech as it was a sleek grey with blue lights. She popped up from a crate they were hiding behind and took aim, her pulling the trigger and a plasma beam shot out, hitting her target. Ford followed suit with getting his gun out to help fight alongside with her.

"Sorry!" Ford then shouted to Layla as he just barely dodged a red plasma beam that was precariously close to his face. "I got distracted!"

"With what!?" Layla snapped as she shot a merchant square in the chest, dark green blood spewing everywhere. She took it as a distraction and tapped Ford on his shoulder, signaling for them to escape.

As the two rushed down the alleyway, Layla noticed a shimmer in the distance. She knew that it meant a natural opening of a portal. They both sprinted at full speed, making it just in time as they went through and the portal closed behind them, the two humans gasping for breath.

"Mind telling me…" Layla panted. "What the hell happened back there?"

Ford continued to glance around, as if he was expecting something to show up in front of him. "I… I thought I was being watched by Bill…" he then admitted, his brown eyes to looking around with paranoia.

Layla instantly began glancing around too, the paranoia setting in on her as well. "Y-you think we are being followed…?" she then asked, sensing the worry in her voice.

"Possibly…" he informed. "He could've noticed who we were at the plaza. It seemed like he then finally noticed that Layla herself was glancing around. "Layla…?" he then called to her, getting her attention. "Have you… dealt with Bill before?" he then asked her.

"Once," Layla replied curtly. Although her past missions required going to Bill's lair, she never directly dealt with him. It was back home that she did, and after years of memory suppression form her own self and the drugs her father forced in her, she remembered clearly what Bill and her father often did in the basement.

"Layla…"

"I'll tell the day you do, Poindexter." Layla remembered that Ford once said that Bill had entered his mind at one point from being tricked, which was the whole reason why she risked being discovered by Magum to get the plate in Ford's head. There had to be more to the story that Ford wasn't letting on, and he seemed very reluctant to talk about it.

Ford then told her in exasperation, "I told you, I met him and he tricked me!"

"There's more to that… I can tell," Layla insisted. "You're a smart guy, you simply didn't get 'tricked', there was something more to the point where you cut him off and felt betrayed." _There just has to be more…_

"You want to know!?" Ford snapped, him gesturing his hand in the air in exasperation. "I found his stupid wheel and spell to summon him in a cave in Gravity Falls, and despite the warnings saying not to I did anyway! I was desperate as I hit a roadblock in my anomaly research…! So, I made a deal with him… I let him into my mind where he had full possession over me to aid me, and he told me the portal would be the answer!

"I thought he was my _friend_! But he used me! That's when I descended into madness… I felt like I couldn't trust anyone… I've began hearing and seeing things… I needed someone… so I invited Stanley and he came to my house. I was so paranoid and worked up that I aimed a crossbow at my _twin brother_! Bill had me so worked up that I could've _killed_ him! Stanley and I got into a fight, the portal activated, and I'm here now!"

Ford had been panting after his rant, and he had been pacing back and forth. It was as if he just needed to keep moving in order to stay sane.

However, it confirmed the one thing with Layla. Ford had willingly, and knowingly, been possessed by Bill Cipher. What insane things did Ford do as Bill's puppet!? Did he kill people for amusement? "You… let him into your mind!?" Layla then finally shouted in shock, her still not believing that is was so willingly. "W-why… you let a _demon_ possess you…!"

"Now you know why I have trust issues…" Ford muttered darkly. "Well… actually my brother betrayed it first."

"What did he do?" Layla then asked, her becoming intrigued that he mentioned it so loosely.

"Nuh-uh," Ford chastised, pointing at her. "I told you about Bill… now you tell me yours." His brown eyes were narrowed angrily, clearly not enjoying the conversation.

Layla glared at him, her expression hard, her feeling her own eye cold as ice. Finally, she gave a sigh and felt her face slack. "My father let Bill into his mind too… he was possessed. Bill… _enjoys_ killing, very sadistically and inhumane… My father wanted test subjects for his research, but he never had the guts to get them until Bill came along. Even after Bill was done possessing him my father would go and torture his subjects.

"I was little… I want to say about eight years old when I was dragged to one of those… murder baths," Layla's felt her eyes stings, remembering a time clear as day where her father finally decided that lying low in Gravity Falls was too boring and decided to get subjects in town. "Bill suggested to my father that children may be better subjects as their cells were still technically new and fresh… and I witnessed that. I never wanted to believe my father would agree to it, so I just made it seem like Bill was the bad guy. But… it isn't true… it never was."

Layla remembered that child. The child was a sickly little thing, it definitely going through some autoimmune deficiency disease. Her memory became stained red as she remembered that child's screams of pain, her father testing out some kind of serum in it to see if its sickly cells would regenerate.

It made Layla sick to her stomach thinking about it. No child, no person, should go through such torture.

Ford instantly looked sympathetic to her. She could tell that his brain was trying to process what to say to try to comfort her.

"I can assure you…" Ford whispered gently and honestly. "That I have never killed anyone under Bill's control, or has he influenced me to kill anyone without him possessing me. And I never intend to…"

Layla then gave him a look of doubt. "Are… you sure?" she slowly asked, timid. Could it be possible that Ford could be lying to her, or that he simply has no memory of death he caused?

Ford gave her a gentle smile. "Trust me," he said simply, him offering a hand.

Layla felt herself give a smile. She _did_ trust him, and trust went both ways. If she begged for him to trust her before, then she had to trust him on his word now. She then set her into his that was offered, her showing that she in fact did trust him.

They went and explored the dimension they ended up in after going through the portal, noticing that they were in a very large city landscape. The buildings were tall and a stone gray, but instead of being straight up they were built as curves and diagonals. Inhabitants of the dimension, which they looked a lot like the mythical creature Chimera from Greek mythology, crowded the streets busily, often bumping into the two human travelers.

"Have you ever been here?" Ford asked Layla in a hushed whisper, his brown eyes wandering the landscape.

"Once or twice…" she admitted "I don't know my way around though." As another inhabitant went to bump into her she avoids his tail flawlessly. "Whatever happens though… don't get bit by them or bit by their tails." She then pointed at the tails, them having a black ball on the end with beady red eyes with a mouth that occasionally opened to reveal sharp teeth and a wicked purple tongue.

Ford was then intrigued. "Why not?" he asked her curiously, Layla practically seeing the gears turn in his head to try to process the possibilities.

"Because it's poison," she replied curtly, annoyed that he would be so fascinated by it. "It won't harm them, but it will potentially kill us."

"Potentially?"

"You either fight through the poison to survive… or you die."

Ford couldn't believe that. "Isn't there any medicine or antidote for it?" he inquired.

"No." Layla doesn't say another word and continued on slightly ahead of him.

The one time Layla remembered coming to that dimension, it was a quick hop through. Some goon was trying to chase her from stealing from him, maybe money or booze, she couldn't fully remember. As they ran through, she dodged the inhabitants quite well, but when she looked back she had seen the goon get bit by the tail, and the more he ran the slower he got to the point where he had collapsed. Layla had actually gone back to see what had happened, and that was when she discovered the poison. She avoided all the creatures as if they had the plague, her going to a place that was a library, or something like it, and did research on the creatures, discovers that they had a special gland that was highly toxic to beings that were from outside the dimension. There was a small chance of surviving, but it was so small that there was a better chance of Magum treating her like an actual person then surviving.

Layla vowed to never return there if she could help it. She rather not risk getting bit and killed from the poison.

She continued walking ahead, her avoiding the tails with skill. She kept her eye out on any place to duck into for a few moments to fully seen their situation and to find a new natural portal to leave. Just being there gave her the creeps. With a sigh she turned around to see if Ford was still following her, hoping that he didn't end up getting bit and poisoned.

 _I shouldn't have stormed ahead… especially after that he just recovered from his injury. How could I help him if he got poisoned where I couldn't possibly help him?_

Her eyes widened when she saw one of the creatures looming over Ford. She had found it odd that they would just so that, these creatures were quite civilized and wouldn't attack without being provoked, their tails however almost had minds of their own and they just wag their tails like a dog, not particularly paying attention if they hit something or someone. But then she saw the eyes: A glowing yellow with a slit of a pupil.

Bill Cipher.

Layla began running back to Ford, her mentally hitting herself that she would let herself get so far ahead of him. She _had_ to make it back to him in time, she just _had_ to!

Ford had looked confused when his eyes met hers. After a second of confusion he himself turned around, and from where Layla was she could tell he stiffened with surprise. Or fear.

 _"_ _Hello, Fordsy! I can't believe you're still alive here!"_

Ford tried to take a step back, but the tail of the monster Bill was possessing wrapped around him, making him immobile. The scientist tried to struggle, but the grip only got tighter and tighter, making him grunt in pain. The head of the tail was then in front of his face, it opening and closing its moth with audible clinks from its teeth.

 _"_ _Let's see… should I give you a torturous death or keep you alive until you beg for it?"_

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Layla then screamed, her finally making it to Ford and taking her gun out. She shot the Bill possessed monster in the face, a hole made from the plasma bullet forming in the center of its face. The monster screeched painfully, the last moment of life its eyes lost its golden glow as thick golden blood pulsed from its wound. The tail that gripped around Ford was released and he fell to the ground, him painfully yelping as he body crashed into the cement. Layla ran to him and helped him up, but not before the dying beast lashed its tail and hit Layla on her right side. She grunted in pain, but nonetheless continued to help Ford and encourage him to begin running.

As they ran, some of the members of Bill's head henchmen were blocking their path, one of them being a pair of giant teeth that looked like those plastic joke ones. Another was a tall, bright magenta colored being that had a feminine shape to it, its head looking like old gargoyle statues but with one eye in the center and sharp, white teeth; Pink flames licked up its arms and legs, it looking almost like a design to special gloves and leggings, but they were real flames.

They weren't going to get past them…

Ford then grabbed Layla's hand and dashes to the left, going through a door that looked like it led through some type of restaurant. The two ran between the tables, knocking them down, and the sounds of shattering plates roaring behind them. It seemed to slow down the two demons though as Ford and Layla made it through the kitchen and out the back door within a short minute. There was a wall in front of them in the alleyway they exited the building to, so they had to quickly scale it, although it was extremely difficult to its curved structure.

Layla felt an odd stinging from where she was hit, the stinging then turning into hot knives stabbing her. She felt her strength leaving her limbs as she climbed, but she had to force the pain aside to make it to the top. Once at the top the edges of her vision began to blur as something sharp hit her heart, fully immobilizing her as she collapsed, her putting her hands to the side where the stinging originated.

 _No… no this… this isn't right… the tail…_

"Layla!" Ford shouted once he had noticed that she collapsed, him making his way back to her. "What's wrong?!" He then noticed that her hands were covering a spot on her trench coat, so he gently removed them, causing a wave of pain to wash over her, revealing a small hole in the coat. He moved the coat's fabric aside and sees her navy blue sweaert with a small hole but heavy with blood and something else. "I'm going to lift up your sweater slightly to see it okay?" he told her, but he didn't wait for a response as he just lifted the sweater enough to see a small, but highly inflamed wound.

Layla glanced down at the wound, her eyes widening as she saw that she in fact was poisoned.

 _No… no… How can I let this happen…?_

The wound was pulsating blood, but also a thick dark green pus. There was a set of small puncture holes, small green lines slowly spreading from them to get to the other parts of her body. Some lines were already thick and crawling up toward her heart… the running helped speed up the process.

Another pang of sharp pain hit her in the chest. She felt as if she couldn't breathe, every time she took a small amount of breath it was if she was breathing in fire. Her lungs prickled and stung as if the air itself was toxic. Her body burned with such an intensity she felt that she should've been the feminine pyro demon.

"Oh no… oh shit!" Layla heard Ford gasp in horror. There was a shout from behind him, Bill's henchmen starting to scale the building after them. "Shit…!" she heard him curse. Her vision was too blurry for her to even see him in front of her, all she could do was rely on her ears.

"Leave… me… behind…" Layla gasped between her small pants, her eyes were beginning to flutter. Sleep sounded like it was a good idea…

"Like hell I will!" Ford stubbornly replied. She then felt him gently pick her up, her in the bridal carry position, and she found her arms weakly wrapping around his neck. She lays her head to his chest, her soft moans of pain and distress being muffled. The sound of his panicked heartbeat pounded to hear rested ear, and it was almost so soothing that she could fall asleep. She then felt him start running, but she closed her eyes, not sure where they were going.

The burning was pulsating through her body. Layla felt as if she touched something it would be set ablaze. The sharp pains continued in her chest, her heart being attacked by the poison. Just the small bits of breath she managed to give herself felt too much for her body to handle.

 _I want to sleep…_

Layla then felt herself be surrounded by something soft, but it wasn't really comfortable. Fire raged through her, her feeling the sweat pour profusely off her forehead. Her blood practically boiled, if she had to the strength to slice her body open to let the hot blood pour out from her, she would've done it.

She barely saw Ford make his way back to her when she made a soft moan of pain. It burned so much to even make a slight sound… she desperately wanted to scream and cry, but just the small noise she made was enough to make her feel as if millions of hot knives stab at every nerve in her body. His hand had made her way to her forehead, his hand feeling so cold to her… her body shivered involuntarily, the stabbing intensifying.

Layla was left alone for a moment, her feeling as if she was abandoned. She didn't want to die… but if she did she didn't want to die alone.

 _Please… please come back…_

Once again she felt herself be picked up by Ford, her unfocused eyes managing to see his brown eyes wide with panic and determination. He quickly moved, the air feeling if it was slicing across her exposed skin. How was she not cut up like meat and bleeding out…? That's what it felt like to her at least…

Layla was then set down in something soft, her feeling it cradling her. Everything around her was so soft, almost like a cloud. For a moment the hot knives seemed to stop stabbing, she felt as if she was on death's bed, waiting to be taken. Under, over, her sides, all were covered by softness. She couldn't tell what it was, and she didn't care.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" she heard Ford whisper to her. "It's my fault… I wasn't paying attention, I should've ran as soon as I seen your face when you looked at me the way you did… just fight this okay?"

Layla then finally managed to force her eyes to focus on him, his blurred form becoming slightly more focused. She felt a ghost of smile play on her lips. "I'm… fine…" she insisted weakly. She really didn't want him to worry over her.

"No, you're not." Ford sternly told her. "You just need to rest a bit… you'll be fine…" his voice sounded strained and panicked. It seemed like one of the few times in his life he truly didn't know what to do. Layla then felt him gently wrap his hands around her seemingly small left hand.

"I'm cold…" she barely whispered as she closed her eyes. Her body was now weakly shaking, the stabbing of heat then becoming so still it was as if all the heat was sapped from her body. She desperately wanted heat… she wanted to be warm. Before all she wanted was the heat to go away, but now that it was gone she wanted it back.

After a moment she felt a sudden warmness around her. Weakly she opened her eyes and saw the Ford was close to her, using his body heat to warm her. "You're… warm…" she murmured, her eyes only half open. It was such a comforting warmth as she felt Ford's arms wrap around her gently, avoiding her wound. "Thank… you… I'm going to… sleep now…"

"Just promise me you'll wake up…" she heard him say.

"I will…" her eyes fluttered shut and she starts weakly snoring.

Her dreams were black and inky. The darkness was thick and suffocating, and she never had felt so alone and cold. Her body seemed to float in the abyss, her body suddenly feeling as if it was being torn apart, her limbs being ripped from her sockets as skin tore like paper, her feeling the blood rain from her to the bottomless pit of the void.

 _Am I dying? Is this what dying feels like?_

Layla had never believed in Heaven, she always believed in Hell though, since she always thought that was the realm that she dealt with. If there was a Heaven, would she go there, or since she had done so much sin that she would stay in Hell forever?

 _Please… make this pain stop… please… it hurts so much…_

And in the blackness, she heard his voice. He heard the comforting low rumble of his voice, telling her that she had a promise to keep.

 _I have to wake up… I have to wake up for him…_

* * *

She felt so safe and warm, her small body seemingly clinging to the source.

A small smile was on her lips when she felt a soft touch on her face. She felt herself curl up tighter against the great source of warmth that she was enjoying, her arms wrapped around what felt to her like a large teddy bear. Her eyes fluttered open gently, the electric blue bright and healthy. A soft moan escapes from her hear as she nuzzled Ford next to her, closing her eyes in relaxation.

Her eyes then opened and widened in realization on what she just did. Her face blushed a deep crimson as her eyes darted between Ford and herself. She gave a yelp and with all the strength she had pushed Ford away from her, causing him to fall off the bed that they were on, him landing on the floor with a loud thud.

"OW!" he screamed in pain and shock. Layla then peered over the edge of the bed, realizing that it was pretty high off of the ground, so Ford had taken quite a fall. He was on the ground, rubbing his head with a grimace. He finally looked up and saw her peering face. "What the hell was that for!?" he demanded when their eyes met, his eyes hard.

"Sorry…" she apologized, her face still red.

When Ford got up the bed was up to his waist, he was of average height for a male, so the bed going to his waist proved that the bed was extremely large. There was a noticeable bump on the right side of his forehead, making Layla have a twinge of guilt that she pushed him off. Layla adjusted herself on the bed, getting onto her knees, for once her face equal to his. She put a hand to his bump, watching his face twist into a grimace as he hissed in pain. Another pang of guilt waved over her.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to get you hurt…" she told him softly, her hand still gingerly on his bump.

Ford gave her a sympathetic look, and there was something else in his eyes. Guilt? Sadness? She couldn't pinpoint it. "Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" he asked her gently, his voice hoarse. "After all it's because of me that you got poisoned… you almost died."

Layla couldn't help but laugh at his worried expression. She had found it sweet that he was so concerned with her. "I'm fine… the good news is that I am immune to the poison now," she laughed. She had closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side as she contained her laughter.

She then felt his hands on her face, making her blink open her eyes in sudden surprise, but before she could react his lips were on hers, her making a small sound. Her heart raced as she closed her eyes once again as she wrapped her arms around his neck and his hands went to her waist.

After a minute the two pulled apart, both panting and both with hearts racing.

 _He just kissed me…_

Ford's brown eyes then widened with surprised and moved Layla about arm's length away from her; however, his hands were still on her waist. It was as if he couldn't believe that he had just done that.

"I-I-I'm sorry…!" Ford stammered quickly and his voice filled with nervousness. "I-I-I-I wasn't th-thinking-!"

Layla the cut him off by kissing him. He seemed surprised at the gesture, especially when she put her arms around his neck once again and then gripping his dark brown hair. To be honest with herself, she loved the fact that he did it. When she pulled away she said to him, "It's fine… you're actually a bit better when you aren't thinking."

But before Ford could respond they had to leave suddenly as the creatures of the dimension were trying to get into wherever they were hiding, which Layla discovered that Ford had broken into a model home so that she could rest. Layla couldn't fully move still, her body still weak from fighting against the poison. Ford had to carry Layla out the window, him carefully descending and Layla looking over worriedly towards the ground.

Once making it to the ground, Ford made his way to an alleyway, setting Layla down. Layla's legs still felt extremely weak and she wobbled, but Ford kept hold of her hand to help her with her balance. She noticed that his face was blushed a deep red, probably embarrassed about what had happened.

"Well… that could've gone worse…" Layla muttered, breaking the silence.

Ford tried to explain what had happened back there, but when a green light illuminated by them, it only meant one thing. Rick found his way back. Ford accused Rick of working with Magum, Rick retorting that the reason he couldn't go home was because his portal gun was missing an important component to access Earth. Once again Rick tried to imply that Layla had the information with her for some reason, but it wasn't further pressed.

Rick then showed an old, ancient document about Bill Cipher. The document depicted Bill in the center of a wheel, symbols surrounding him. Symbols included a pine tree, a shooting star, a question mark, and even something as ridiculous as an ice bag. What could those symbols mean? In a way… some of them looked oddly familiar…

Ford pointed out that he had seen the wheel before in the caves of Gravity Falls. Rick informed that it was an ancient spell that had the ability to send Bill Cipher back to his home dimension, something that intrigued Ford.

"But… what about Magum?" Ford then asked. "How do you get rid of him?"

Layla had that same question, but before she could give any thoughts on it a familiar, yet chilling voice came from behind.

 _"_ _You don't, Stanford."_

 _Magum._

Magum stood there behind him with two silver wolves, the pelts a ghostly wisp of shadows and darkness. The vessel was once again a different one that was previously used, this one looking younger than previous ones, but it still had the translucent skin to see the veins and arteries of the body.

 _"_ _You simply cannot get rid of me."_

Magum was once again apparent on trying to make some kind of deal with Ford. Ford, obviously, refused, he had once made a deal with a demon and wasn't going to do it again. For some reason Magum was still insistent on wanting Layla to go back with him.

The thought of that made Layla want to retch. Every night was torture to her, she was not going to willingly go back. She felt a spark of hope and happiness when Ford refused to even have her as some sort of bargaining chip.

Rick had managed to open a portal and send the three through, although Magum did send his wolves after them in the process. While traveling through the portal, their bodies being tugged one way and then the other, the demonic wolves were right with them fighting their all. Rick had landed on his portal gun and managed to break it when the three humans tumbled out, the drunk scientist fighting with a wolf tearing through his coat.

Despite the two having their differences, Layla managed to grab her gun and carefully aim at the wolf. She shot it expertly, the wolf giving a high pitched, painful yelp as it fell to the side. Rick gave a huff of thanks, or at least Layla assumed it was a huff of thanks as he went straight for his portal gun in concern.

Ford was still being attacked by the second wolf, the beast trying to tear at his throat. Somehow Ford managed to get his coat off of him, the coat twisting around himself and the wolf, it seemingly the only thing that was keep the demonic monster from ripping the fragile flesh of his throat. Ford had his arms fully extended out, using all his strength and the twisted coat to defend himself, there was no way he could reach his gun.

"Ford!" Layla cried out in panic as she aimed for the monster. With sharpshooting skills she pulled the trigger and the plasma bullet pierced the wolf in its flank, it becoming distracted as Ford managed to get his gun and pull the trigger against the beast. Ford's coat became riddled with burnt holes, and Layla saw him rummaging through his coat to get the sentimental picture that he had kept of him and his twin as children.

"Is everyone alright?" Ford called out.

"I'm okay…" Layla replied. Or as alright as she could. Every time they dealt with Magum it left a bitter taste in her mouth and made her want to tremble. Of course the demon was truly a monster, but the others haven't dealt with him on the level she had, and just being in Magum's presence was enough to stir up terrible memories.

"There has to be a way to get rid of Magum…" Ford mused, him putting a hand to his chin like he normally did while he was he deep thought. "If there is a way to get rid of Bill, then there is one to get rid of Magum.

Layla began to hum, her searching her memory banks. Where had she seen something so similar to Bill's wheel before? Her mind went back to the journal that had belonged to Magum, one that she tried to read during her years in that room with him but could never decipher it. She remembered one particular page… one that looked eerily similar to Bill's wheel…

Over the years on the run from Magum, Layla had hidden that journal somewhere in one of the alcoves. She didn't enjoy carrying around with her. But, one of the alcoves that she and Ford happened to stumble upon was the one that she had hidden it, so she had grabbed it, meaning to show it to Ford for him to look through it.

Layla explained to both Ford and Rick that she had that journal, her searching through the yellowed pages to find the one she was looking for. After a minute of searching she had found the page that looked nearly identical to Bill Cipher's wheel.

It was a wheel with Magum's true monstrous form in the center. Around the demon were ten symbols, just like Bill had. A few of the symbols were identical: a pine tree, a shooting star, a six-fingered hand, a crescent shape, and a llama. However, new symbols were on the wheel that were not on Bill's: an arrow, a heart, a flask, an oak leaf, and an acorn.

Her electric blue eyes gazed at the page for a moment before showing it to Ford. Obviously, the six-fingered hand had something to do with Ford, it wasn't a coincidence that he had to deal with two demons that were extremely powerful. But one symbol she thought about for what seemed like years.

The oak leaf.

Layla knew her name "Bartek" was a Polish name, she was part Polish from her father's genetics. "Bartek" oddly enough was the Polish name for "Bartholomew", which meant her father's name was the same first and surname, which was odd. A famous tree in Poland was called "Bartek" due to being the oldest oak tree in the country, possibly the world. To stand tall as a mighty oak, that's what the people of Poland believed how a person should be.

An oak leaf obviously belonged to an oak tree, a strong one being called "Bartek". Did the oak leaf have something to do with her…? It couldn't be that easy though… And then there was the acorn, which is a seed to an oak tree. Did someone else that had something to do with her family have something to do with the wheel as well…? So many questions buzzed in her mind, and if only she felt the courage to talk to Ford about, maybe he could spit out some theories on her questions.

"So… he _does_ have a weakness!" Ford exclaimed happily when he looked at the page that Layla had found. "He even has a few similar symbols that Bill has… so that means a few of the same people can defeat Bill _and_ Magum…!"

 _Two demons can be defeated by the same people…? It couldn't be a coincidence that five symbols are shared…_

"O-o-o-o-oh, goody." Rick muttered sarcastically, him picking up the pieces of his destroyed portal gun.

"But… what do the symbols mean…?" Layla asked curiously, her eyes once again going to the oak leaf symbol on the wheel. Was it meant for _her_ …?

"That… with time, we'll probably know." Ford told her, him taking her hand gently. He then gingerly takes the book with his free hand, his thumb in the spine of the book to keep it open. "And now… I need a new coat…" He just had his black turtleneck sweater, his muddy brown boots, and his black pants.

"T-t-t-t-there is a market in t-t-t-this dimension," Rick drunkenly informed him. "G-g-g-go snag one… I'll stay here a-a-a-and fix this." He held a few pieces of his device up, shpwing how cracked and shattered it was.

"We'll bring you something too Rick," Ford called over his shoulder as he and Layla began to walk away down the alley.

"B-b-b-b-bring me a-a-a-a-a small nuclear reactor!" Rick demanded with a slur.

"Um… no promises," Layla responded. _What the hell would he need one for anyway…?_

Ford kept a tight grip on Layla's hand as the two walked off. He glanced his eyes away, him clearly nervous. The small gesture made Layla's heart pound. Did he regret kissing her earlier…? She wasn't the _best_ person, she would be the first to say that, so did he just do it on the whim or did he really like her?

"Um… like I was trying to say before… about what happened…" Ford began to say but was interrupted with Layla's abrupt stop as she forced him look at her. "Um… what?" he nervously asked, his brown eyes wide.

Layla then stood on her tip toes because of her being short and goes and kisses him. "You're perfectly fine," she told him, truly meaning it. "I'm… I'm actually happy you did that…" she then lowered herself down and grips Ford's hand tightly, her face a blushed pink. "Now… let's get you a new coat."

Ford's face was a bright red, but nonetheless had a big smile on his face, making him almost look like a young boy, something that Layla smiled at. She could tell that she was the only girl he ever gotten close to, so when small things like returning a gesture of affection came up, he was genuinely excited. It almost made her laugh, but she loved his boyish smile.

Layla could never have thought that a simple thing as getting a trench coat would result into learning about Magum's and Bill's history with each other.

Ford and Layla had met a merchant that knew a little bit of Bill's and Magum's hatred of each other, him explaining that they were part of races of demons that were part of the "Hierarchy of Demons". They were friends at one point, both causing major destruction to their worlds, and when it was time for fingers to be pointed, Magum made sure that it was Bill who was stripped of his physical form.

Of course Bill did not like the way their friendship was betrayed, him using his own powers to make sure Magum's race of demons were destroyed. Ever since then, despite Magum not even phased or even dare to care that his family was dead, the two had been going at it for years, both with a similar goal to take over the entire multiverse and the universes within them.

Layla knew that had to have been the power of the Axolotl that stripped Bill of his physical form, it explained why Magum would want to avoid the Axolotl at all costs. The Axolotl was the highest in the "Hierarchy of Demons", despite being creatures that were in fact _not_ demons. From the years of Layla being on her own and learning of the Axolotl, she had learned that the one that Magum always referred to was the last of its kind, the others killed in revenge by Cipher himself.

The "Hierarchy of Demons"… only three survivors: Magum, Bill, and the Axolotl.

There had to be more to why that the Axolotl hasn't been a larger role in everything. How could such a divine creature let this go on for so long? How many dimensions destroyed, how many people killed? There had to be an explanation…

However, Layla couldn't focus on the questions at hand, not while she and Ford had to make their way back to Rick with the newfound information.

 _Whoops. Didn't get him his stupid nuclear reactor. He'll get over it._

While walking, Ford stopped for a moment, causing Layla to stop as well. When she asked what was the matter, he told her that he had been thinking of an old conversation between himself and his friend back in Gravity Falls. He explained that this friend was married and had a son, and when asked if Ford would ever settle down in life, he scoffed at the idea.

Until he met her.

Ford had admitted that he had loved her, something that she couldn't recall ever hearing from anyone. Layla didn't remember her mother saying that she loved her, she knew that her father never said that to her, and despite all the physical actions with Magum there was no love there.

Layla didn't know how to respond. Did she love him? She had thought she loved Magum, but it was a naïve and reckless emotion-driven action. If she admitted that she loved Ford, would it turn out like an ending to a fairy tale, or would it end just like it did with Magum?

Pain. Misery. Depression.

Layla's mind could go through millions of scenarios of the "what ifs" and go through all the terrible things that could happen to her that had happened in the past. But her eart said otherwise…

She _did_ love him.

But… could she just tell him how she truly felt without feeling that she would be trapped?

* * *

As the two humans walked back from the marketplace, Ford told Layla a little more about himself from when he was younger.

Apparently, he was Jewish at one point. But, after studying so much in science, he particularly didn't participate in religion. Ford had mentioned that his brother also tossed the idea of religion away once they entered high school.

"I… I never had a religion…" Layla had sadly admitted. She read about them of course, but it wasn't the same. On her father's side of the family they were dedicated Christians, mainly being part of the Catholics or the Lutherans. Her mother's side however, after much digging if she ever snuck out of her home to go to the Gravity Falls library, they were very mixed when it came to religion. Her mother's mother was Middle Eastern and was Israelite, which meant that there was Muslim and Judaism mixed in with religion perspective. Layla read about each religion, but still never fully understood it, so she gave up on every trying to learn about them to their full potential.

Even though Ford pointed out that Gravity Falls had quite a few Churches, at least one church for every major religion, Layla still didn't understand it really. She had to explain that she wasn't really allowed out of her home, and if people saw her it was like seeing a ghost.

The memory of Colonel flashed into her mind, her remembering how her father screamed at the once human man that if Layla was the "ghost" he had seen in town. That man didn't deserve to be experimented by her father, and he simply didn't deserve to be ruthlessly murdered by Magum.

All because of her.

"What was your mother's name?" Ford then asked gently at one point, him have never asking about her mother before.

"Annabeth," Layla replied. "Annabeth Lyle."

 _"_ _Annabeth Lyle_?" Ford repeated. "As in, the teenaged girl who ran away from home and was missing?"

Layla wasn't familiar with that statement. She knew her mother was much, much younger than her father, her mother almost looking childlike compared to Dr. Bartek. But did she run away from her home only to get mixed up with her father…?

According to Ford, her mother was a famous missing person case. That was something that Layla had no knowledge of whatsoever. She didn't know much about her mother personally, but only the history behind the family that seemed to have left Gravity Falls after a certain point.

Layla began to hum once again, the familiar tune that her mother used to sing to her as a lullaby.

"What song is that?" Ford asked her, causing her to stop humming.

"Hm?" she replied after stopping her humming, not fully paying attention. "What was that, Ford?"

He repeated, "What song is that? You hum it a lot."

Layla's face went crimson. "Sorry… I didn't know I was…" she apologized softly, clearly embarrassed. How many times has she done it without thinking?

Ford then put his hands up in a surrender position. "No, no! I don't mind, it sounds very pretty!" he assured her.

"Pretty…? It's just humming…" Layla said softly, clearly not understanding why he would think so. "It's just a lullaby I barely remember my mother singing to me when I was very small."

"How does it go?" Ford then inquired, a small smile on his face, clearly curious.

Layla's heart pounded. Never in her life had she sung that song in front of someone. But, with Ford there, she felt like that she could, and so she did.

 _"_ _A star that shines as clear as day, made me wish I can go out and play, but remember the night holds a strange magic air, and this warning to you is to be fair._

 _"_ _In the shadows there are people who are not what they seem, they'll want to take you down the deathly black water stream, don't take their hand within yours, or forever you'll be put behind the deathly doors._

 _"_ _A star that shines as clear as day, oh how it made me wish to go out and play, so I took the hand of a shadow that called and beckoned me, and now I feel my soul become free._

 _"_ _However I could not return in the morn, the sun bright as the star as my family mourn, now I become the shadow that uses the star as bright as day, would you like to take my hand and come play?_

 _"_ _A star that shines as bright as day, it made me go out and play, now do you wish to take that risk of the star, and take my hand to go far?_

 _"_ _I promise that I will bring you back home in the morn, that way no one will cry over you and mourn. But am I what I seem, or will I too take you down the deathly black water stream?_

 _"_ _You can trust me as I am your shadow friend, I promise to let you have fun to no end, I promise I won't take you that far, just to the star that is bright as day so we can pay our devoir._

 _"_ _A star that shines as bright as day, how I wish I did not go out to play, for the devil shadow had grasped my hand, the devil shadow pulled my soul and it was at his command._

 _"_ _So heed my warning young soul, please heed it with thole, and do not shake the devil shadow's hand, or forever your young soul shall be damned._

 _"_ _A star that shined as bright as day, now dim with the shadows I have helped taken with the devil shadow's command that are a dark grey, remember how the night holds a strange magic air, and how even something as bright as a star can take you to the devil shadow's lair."_

Once she was done singing her song, it felt as though a weight had lifted. In a way, it was like a story about how she put her trust into someone she shouldn't have. After all these years it finally made sense to her.

Be careful on who you trust.

But… did that mean that she was putting too much trust into Ford? Then again, it didn't seem like it. They both had been helping each other out, him helping her when she was drunk and making sure she was safe when she was poisoned. Layla herself risked her life to getting the ointment to heal his wound.

Trust was the first step into healing her heart. For years she didn't trust anyone, not fully trusting her contact Kerum as she never stayed around long after dealing with him. For years she isolated herself, keeping her inner demons to herself as she drank her life away. Was life really all it was, sitting there feeling sorry about the mistakes you made in the past?

She was a seventeen year old girl that had no real experience with the world, and she put too much trust into the first thing that showed some form of positive emotion. It burned her severely in more ways than one.

Then Ford came along…

Was it fate or destiny that brought Ford and her together? Two people who had sworn to never be tricked into putting all of their trust into one being again?

Layla trusted Ford fully. She could fall asleep next to him at any given time, when before she had to be piss drunk to do so. She felt safe while being with him, something that she hadn't felt in a long time.

At first Layla had thought of Ford as a nuisance. Why did she decide to help him, to save him from being hunted down by Bill Cipher?

 _I didn't want to be alone anymore…_

Was it her heart or her head that made that decision? Was it her heart telling her in some way that it was time to grow up and put the past behind her to finally _move forward_?

It was time to move forward, it was time to let her heart do the talking instead of her head. It was time to put the past behind her, she wasn't some kid anymore and she had learned her lesson.

It was time to let her heart love again.

* * *

They had returned to the alleyway in which they had left an extremely drunk Rick, him nowhere in sight to be seen.

A few of Ford's and Layla's wanted posters littered the ground, some with random doodles on them, and a few with some kind of symbol language over Ford's poster. After further investigating, it was a cipher code that read "RICK WAS HERE" on the upper right corner of Ford's poster. On the back of the poster was a full on message written in English, although the handwriting was shaky looking and practically illegible.

"'Sci-Fi and Layla,'" Layla began to read the message. "'You two were taking too long, probably making out in a corner somewhere, blech.'" That statement made Layla's face blush pink. As if they possibly had time to do that when they were stuck in a Godforsaken dimension! She continued, "'I've gone to look for parts for my portal gun, I'll probably catch you guys later, and if not, bye bitches! This is Dimension 52, a more modern dimension, if you guys go to a shady part of town you can probably hit a place to sleep that's better than a warehouse floor without money. Rick.'"

"So, he just _ditched_ us!?" Ford angrily shouted, his voice echoing off the walls of the alleyway. "What a fricken asshole!"

"Honestly, I am _not_ surprised in the slightest," the raven-haired woman commented nonchalantly. "It was only a matter of time anyway." She began to walk away, holding her head up high with confidence, something she had learned to do over the years. If you looked confident in yourself, then no one would mess with you.

Layla then noticed there was no other footsteps, her turning around to see that Ford was just staring at her. "Stanford?" she called out, seeing him give a small jump. The dark brunette gave his head a fierce shake, him then giving her a blank stare as if he didn't comprehend what she had said. "Are you coming or not?" she then asked him, an amused smile on her face.

"Um… yes!" Ford replied a little too excitedly. "Let's get a move on then, shall we?"

* * *

Layla of course had been in multiple cities in multiple dimensions, each one being more drastic looking than the last.

Some dimensions she had been in were beautiful utopias with the bluest of skies and the greenest of grass and leaves. Other dimensions looked as though Hell reigned upon the land, the buildings blown apart as if missiles and bombs bombarded them endlessly. And then some dimensions were in between, a mixture of both the good and the bad, like a normalcy.

Dimension 52 was no different with a mixture of good and bad. The bazar they were in when they spoke to the merchant about Bill and Magum's past was vast and colorful, filled to the brim with multiple goods from across the multiverse. So, the two humans took Rick's advice and went to the more run down part of the major city they were in, the buildings seemingly deteriorating from the inside out. Litter covered the streets, a few dark alleyways filled with snores from homeless patrons.

Layla wasn't scared of the seemingly dangerous part of town, she knew her way in a fight, as did Ford. They walked into stores to purchase, but mainly steal, some food and drink. Of course Layla stole an abundance of alcohol hidden in her coat, her finding a few bottles of her absolute favorite.

Once out of the last of the stores that they shoplifted at Ford had then handed Layla a few stacks of paper. As she read them she realized it was some sort of news. Luckily after searching through her memory banks she was able to translate the language, one of the ones she first learned.

"Looks like there is a lot of gang war in this city," she remarked as she finished translating. "The papers are basically saying don't walk around at night." She then rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh, thank heavens we found that!"

Ford rolled his eyes as well, not even trying to suppress a sly grin as he put a hand on his hip. "I figured we needed some information," he informed her.

She then hooked her arm through his, him looking almost caught off guard. "My hero, the nerd!" Layla laughed, almost feigning a fake Southern accent. She then pointed out in her normal voice, "But yes, that is important information, we don't want to be caught in the crossfire."

Overhead that sky was becoming a dark indigo, streaks of yellow from the lights of the rowdy city. Layla read through the newspaper, looking for the crappiest hotel that she could bribe her and Ford a night's stay. There were a few grunts and a few crashes, but she ignored them, her trying to read.

A gunshot.

"What was that?" Layla asked absently, truly not even caring.

"Nothing, Layla." Ford replied almost drily.

A spark of hope filled Layla when she found a perfect place, a hotel-like building that had about an equivalent to a one-star rating. It said the staff was particularly uncaring and would do anything for a lousy tip, even if it meant turning their heads away for some gruesome activities. She then lead Ford to where the address said, her noting that a person was limping behind them with a hand to their knee, blood gushing out.

The building that Layla led them to had looked as if the stones were placed by a child, clumsily and looking to topple over at any given moment. The exterior was a dull grey, random patches of dark brown that poorly attempted at a paint job to cover large cracks that ran up and down. The windows looked as if they hadn't been washed since the moment they were installed, a few of them with flickering lights, many windows boarded up or shattered.

It wasn't the best place, but Layla could bribe the concierge with alcohol if she really had to. With a sigh and a glance at each other the two humans entered the building.

Inside was just as terrible if not worse than the outside. The dark red carpet that decorated the center floor was ripped and shredded, dark stains covering about ninety-percent of it, white strings showing though were the carpet material had been ripped out. Marble tiles were cracked and shattered, leaving large holes that revealed the foundation of the building. Various liquids dripped from the ceiling, a dark grey color and a drop hit Layla on her upturned nose, her almost gagging at the sudden retched stench of it.

No one was in lobby besides them two and a very bored looking concierge at the desk. The concierge was green-skinned and reptilian looking, almost like a chameleon, which large neon purple colored eyes that were looking everywhere but Layla and Ford. There was a sign that was written in the same language as the newspaper and after a minute Layla was able to translate.

"'On break. Will return never,'" she read aloud to Ford.

"So very friendly…" Ford muttered sarcastically in response.

Layla gave him a quick smile and turned her back to him with a flip of her black hair. With her head held up high she strolled over to the desk and began to speak to the concierge with a much higher sounding voice, almost intoxicatingly sweet, in the same language that was written.

"Why, hello there handsome!" she flirted loudly, her own voice making her stomach ache. "So, my friend and I here would like a room. You see, it's a matter of privacy, and you know, a girl like me gotta make her dues in the world right?" She then gave a wink. When the concierge looked at her with bored eyes she then reached into her trench coat and pulled out a bottle of alcohol she had stolen. "Listen, give me a room for the night and this is yours, got it? No disturbing at all." The concierge then held out a scaly hand and Layla gave him the bottle and soon a key replaced the bottle. "Thank you!" she chirped as she strolled back towards Ford, her twirling the key in her right hand.

Ford raised a brown brow. "What did you even say?" Ford asked her when she made her way back to him.

"Eh, nothing much," the raven-haired woman shrugged as she grabbed Ford's hand and made her way to the staircase. She kept her back to him and was pulling him along, her face a little pink. If she could help it she would rather not say that she basically told the concierge that she was a prostitute.

Ford had then glanced over the railing of the staircase, seeing the concierge pop open the bottle that Layla had given him. "You bribed him!?" he cried out.

Layla then admitted nonchalantly, "Not the first time I've done something like that." She then looked at the key that had their floor and room number, her following the signs that would lead them there as Ford muttered under his breath, "I swear, I think you and my brother could be friends." Finally, she found the room and unlocked the door, it swinging open with a loud creak.

Both seemed to have near identical grimaces when they saw what the room looked like. The carpet was a disgusting blue color, it torn just like the carpet in the lobby. Peeled pale green wallpaper was dropping off the walls, revealing that underneath was a pale yellow color with age.

"I think I rather sleep in a trashcan…" Ford groaned as he eyed the place.

"C'mon, it's only for one night," Layla insisted as she set her small pack on the old bed. It was large enough for the two of them, the comforter a dirty looking yellow, she couldn't tell if it was from being old or from just being filthy. Inside her pack was the few blankets and flat pillows she could carry, and she set them over the yellow comforter so she could at least feel a little comfortable sleeping on it.

Ford's voice sounded nervous as he stated, "Wait… w-w-w-why is there one bed?"

"Hm?" she replied, barley looking up. She knew exactly why, but she didn't want to say, so she made up a lie. "I have no idea… maybe the guy just assumed. It's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before."

Layla then removed her trench coat and fiddled inside the pockets. She began to pull out the various bottles of alcohol she had stolen, a few were of her favorite. The sounds of glass clinking filled the room, her taking out two shot glasses she had taken as well. After everything was out of her coat she lifted one of the bottles filled with clear liquid.

"Care to have a drink with me?" she asked casually with a sly smile on her face. She expected him to reject the drink, like he always did.

Ford did his nervous habit of putting a hand behind his head to scratch. "I don't know…" he then gave a nervous chuckle. "I think at least _one_ of us should be sober…" he continued slowly, almost in a jokingly manner. He then took the second glass that was on the small table that Layla had emptied her contents onto and handed it outward towards her, waiting for a drink. Layla gave a smile and complied, her pouring the liquid into the glass expertly and then poured herself one. "But… a few drinks couldn't hurt, right?"

The two downed shots as if they were nothing, Ford actually pouring himself another glass. Layla was surprised at this as normally he'd not drink at all or just have one shot. As they both took one shot after another, Ford told Layla a bit about the family pawn shop his father owned, the old man never wanting to give a refund. Layla told him about how she hated spiders, how she became afraid of them because of the cabin being filled with them. Another story of Ford's was how his mother would lie so well on the phone as a phone psychic, a trait that well skipped himself and went straight to Stanley.

"You rarely talk about your parents…" Layla recalled, her words slightly slurred.

Ford glanced away. "Dad was a strict man, was a real money pincher you know? I guess it made sense, as he had extra expenses…" Ford told her, then his face twisted up as if he had immediately regretted saying it. "I didn't… mean that…"

"Your dad took a lot out on Stanley, didn't he?" Layla asked gently, her looking down into her shot glass.

"That's probably why Ma doted on him a little more than myself…" Ford then admitted. "Whenever he felt bad about himself she would perk him back up, and he did inherit her sly tongue. She was the best liar in New Jersey, but when she told us that she loved us… sometimes I thought she was only being truthful to Stanley…" he then hung his head low, the look of guilt crossing his features.

"Hey! You know that's not true!" Layla snapped at him.

"I know it's not true… it just felt like it at times." Ford stated, a sad look taking on his features. He poured himself another drink, although clumsily, and downed the shot. His face grimaces at the taste.

"At least your mom was around…" Layla then bitterly said to him, her voice dripping with venom. "I wish I would've known years ago…"

Her father had brutally murdered her mother. Was it truly because she was born in Gravity Falls and had some kind of anomaly gene that was tied into the town? Or was her father just sick of having the nervous woman around? Layla will never know the answer as the truth had died with her father from when she pulled the trigger.

"I shouldn't have mentioned it…" Ford sighed. "That was selfish of me…" It then looked as though he was debating something. The dark brunette then took a deep breath and asked, "Have… have I told you _why_ Stanley and I had fought…?" His voice was heavily slurred as he watched Layla down another shot. She looked at him with curious, electric blue eyes and shoot her head no. "It's because… back in our senior year of high school… we both… made mistakes…" he then began.

"I did an amazing science fair project, won the fair too. My teachers were so impressed that they invited a prestige college, West Coast Tech, to come to the school and see if I could get in. Stanley… didn't handle it very well. He was always proud of me being smart, beat up any bullies that said otherwise about it and my polydactyl… but I guess he really wanted to go sailing with me around the world…

"Out of anger, and possible fear for the future and sadness, he ruined my project. I didn't get into the school I wanted… I got _so_ mad at him, it was the first time I ever felt like I truly _hated_ him. And at seventeen years old our father kicked him out of the house and gave him the impossible task of making millions on his own before even coming back home. All I did was stand and watch…

"There were so many things that could've been done that night… He could've called home and said he accidently broke my project. I could've tried to have a clearer head and thought rationally. I could've stopped our father from throwing him out on the streets. Maybe… maybe if I would've just _talked_ to Stanley more about that school… maybe he could've went out west with me, have an odd job out there while I got my education so we could still be together…

"And that night I came through the portal didn't go any better…" He then paused for a moment before continuing.

"I was going insane because of Bill… I kept hearing his laugh. I couldn't sleep, I kept trying to stay awake, and that made me begin to hallucinate. It felt like everywhere I turned I saw Bill. My journal entries were becoming more maddening, I was writing in some code that I never seen before… I hid my most recent journal in the woods, I buried my second one, and the first one… I wanted Stanley to take it as far away as possible…"

Another pause, a sadness and almost bitter anger crossed his eyes.

"We fought… he wanted to burn my journal, but I was so caught up that it was my research of Gravity Falls that I attacked him to get it back. During our fight we hit my machinery and the portal got reactivated…

"I hurt him… I kicked him into a scolding hot piece of metal on the side of the console… the symbol there branding into him. I tried to apologize, but he punched me. He told me… he told me that I cared more about mysteries than my family… and now that I really think about it, he was right. He pushed me… and I fell into the gravitational pull of the portal… and I ended up in a different dimension."

Ford finished his story and took the bottle on the side and downed the rest of it without even pouring himself a glass. He wiped his mouth as his face twisted up in a grimace, clearly still not used to the taste of the bitter alcohol. With his brown eyes he glanced at Layla, seeing her expression looking like a mixture of sadness and anger.

Suddenly, Layla stood up, although highly wobbly from her drinking. "THAT'S WHY YOU TWO FOUGHT!?" she demanded, her voice thick with alcohol. "T-T-THAT'S THE STUPIDEST THING I H-H-H-HAVE EVER HEARD!"

Layla had patiently heard the story and clung to ever word. She couldn't believe that the twins had fought over something that seemed to be so small. Layla never had siblings, so she didn't understand where the anger and bitterness was. Did Ford have the right to be angry with his ruined project?

 _Of course! But disowning your own twin for a mistake that he didn't mean to do!? Ridiculous!_

Ford noticeably flinched from her words. "I know it's stupid…" he admitted drunkenly. "That's why…" he continued with a sigh. "That's why I'm really hoping he doesn't mess with the portal… because I _am_ a terrible brother who put his own, selfish needs above my family. I haven't even _spoken_ to my parents in about six years… and right now they could have died from a car crash or a sickness or _something_ and I would have no idea! My brother is better off without me…"

Layla's felt her face soften as she slid down next to him, putting a hand on his leg. "If he didn't care… then why did he come to Gravity Falls for you?" she asked him.

"I just hope… he'll give up… it's too dangerous." Ford then finally said, him getting up, causing Layla's hand to fall off his leg.

She the stood up after him, her popping open another one of her bottles to take a swig from it. The raven-haired woman then handed out the bottle in offering. She could tell that he was pretty drunk, so was she, but she figured after telling his tale he really needed another drink. Ford took the bottle gingerly from her and took a long swig from it, surprising Layla as she was not used to him drinking heavily.

"I-I-I'm glad you told me, Stanford…" Layla finally said, gently taking the bottle back, she didn't want him to hog it all. "It… must've n-n-n-not been easy to talk about it." She took a drink from it again then set it on the nightstand next to the bed, her feeling her vision blur and her body tingle all over.

He then glared at Layla with unfocused eyes, her feeling the glare burning into her. She the acknowledged the glare and gave him a small sheepish smile and a little, child-like wave.

Layla then laughed at Ford's confused expression as his eyes lingered on her, her feeling that her laugh sounded more natural and higher than her usual lower tone. She knew she tried talking a little lower most of the time, as if trying to sound intimidating, but when she was drunk or really happy she'd talk in her natural tone.

"You're cute when you're confused, you know that?" she told him. Layla enjoyed that he could look confused over the simplest of things since he was so used to be the know-it-all. It was refreshing to see someone so smart be clueless. She saw his face go beet red, which made her grin more.

"Um… I-I'm not really sure about that…" he chuckled.

She then walked up to him with her electric blue eyes fully dilated. Her gaze was upward since she was shorter than him.

"You have the prettiest eyes I've ever seen." Ford blurted out randomly, his gaze level with hers.

It was Layla's turn to have her face turn beet red. "Oh… really…? I don't like my eyes very much… I really like your brown… they look like melted chocolate, especially when you smile nicely…" she admitted lightly, her tone wavering from her being drunk. In all honesty, she absolutely hated her eyes because of Magum.

"And I like your black hair too…" Ford continued. Despite him being drunk he spoke more confidently, as if it was he really wanted to say but before he didn't have the courage to.

"Really…?" Layla asked in shock, her feeling her eyes widening. She put her hands to her hair, her absently twirling it. "I don't like it much… I'm already pale and this makes me look dead…"

"More like an angel in my opinion."

 _An angel…?_

Before she could reply to that, Ford went and kissed her, causing her to make a small sound. Layla wraps her hands around Ford's neck, tangling her fingers in his brown hair, and she deepened the kiss. The two pull apart for a moment to catch their breath, but as soon as they did they went back to kissing.

"I… I love you too, Stanford," Layla whispered against his lips, finally saying what she felt about him. She loved him… she loved him. She had to tell him, he had told her what felt like ages ago that he loved her, but now she knew fully how she felt about him.

She then felt her body be lowered onto the bed, her noticing the automatic panicked expression on Ford's face. He glanced around and saw the position he was in and nearly jumped away from her, causing her to giggle and laugh at him.

"You are too adorable when you don't know what you're doing…" she laughed at him as she pulled him back into their kiss, her mouth moving against his rhythmically.

Layla knew what she was doing, the last bit of alcohol hitting her system. All she knew was that she loved him and she wanted to show it. In a way it like her first time again, and she wanted it more on her terms then being tricked into freely giving herself.

It was her full on choice, and she was going to go through with it.

* * *

 **A/N:** We are literally getting to the end here... The next chapter will be the last. The last chapter will be posted along with the final chapter of "After Cipher's Reign: Short Stories".

This chapter really focused on Layla's feelings. She knew that she had feelings for Ford but was afraid to act on them because of her experience with Magum.

I hope you guys enjoyed another long chapter, because the final one is gonna be short!

Thank you all for reading as always!

~Skye Hendersen~


	14. An Oak Leaf Falls

**Chapter 14: An Oak Leaf Falls**

 ***NOTE* Please read the final short story of "After Cipher's Reign: Short Stories" before reading this!**

* * *

She felt movement next to her as her body woke, her giving out a soft moan as she stretched her legs.

Her head ached terribly, but that wasn't a surprise as she had been drinking the night before. She felt her bare body against something soft and warm. As she stretched out her legs she turned to her side, feeling cool air hitting her exposed back. Suddenly, a warm hand gingerly grazed her neck where she knew she had that scar…

Layla's eyes flew open as she sat upright with a gasp, the rest of the blanket falling off of her. Her eyes flickered to her waist where she felt soreness and saw that she had bruises. Layla knew what happened last night, she was that much aware that they had made love, but it didn't stop her head from aching and the room feeling like it was spinning.

"Um… Layla…?" Ford's voice said next to her, his voice hoarse. She turned to see that he had a hand covering his eyes under his glasses and gesturing with his free hand in her general direction.

She groaned loudly, thinking that it was completely silly given what had happened the night previous. Layla then smiled, her feeling like she should be laughing at his expression when she saw his face was a beet red. "Why are you covering your eyes?" she asked him with full amusement.

"I… I don't want to be rude…" he mumbled.

She then finally laughed, her so surprised that he was acting this way. Layla could tell that he had never been with anyone physically, but the way he presented himself was like he didn't remember what had happened.

"Ford… do you even know what happened last night?" she giggled at him.

Ford's face went even redder. "I-I h-h-have my suspicions," he stammered. Layla then sat up and pried his hand from his face, his glasses slipping right back over them. His eyes wandered downwards and then he randomly blurted out, "How did you get that scar on your neck?"

Layla's heart felt like it dropped to the pit of her stomach. She didn't realize that it was exposed since she was so used to wearing a turtleneck sweater. Every time she thought about the scar her mind automatically went back to Magum, something that she rather not think about when Ford and she were together.

"That… I rather not say." Layla replied as she glanced her eyes away.

Ford adjusted his glasses and gave her a hard glare, something that she felt burn into her skin. "You basically got me damned drunk to find out why my brother and I fought, the least you can do is say how you got that scar."

Layla flinched at the statement, she did do that to him. She just wanted him to lighten up a bit to talk to her about the reason why he and his twin fought. Layla didn't realize that they both would get drunk. She did owe him an explanation, after all, she never told him fully what Magum had done to her, although she knew that he knew just from simple conversations with her and even with Magum himself.

She then sighed, "I guess…" She sat up straighter, knowing all too well how her scar stuck out. "I got it because I slit my own throat."

"WHAT!?" Ford roared in anger as he jumped out of the bed. But he then looked down and realized he wasn't fully clothed and went back into the bed putting the covers on. He gave a little cough before continuing, "Um… WHAT!?"

Layla then gave him a sad smile. "I did it… because Magum made me. He wanted to see my blood stain my body… and I was seventeen at the time and really didn't have a choice…" she told him as she hung her head. It was true what she said, but because she was forced to from trying to escape she left it out. That was a whole other story altogether.

"It could've killed you!" Ford screeched, him subconsciously putting a hand to his throat.

"It nearly did…" Layla confessed sadly. "But he had promised that he would heal me. What I didn't know was that it would leave this scar… that's why I wear a turtleneck."

Ford then pulled her into an embrace, her feeling his hand go through her hair to comfort him. She felt his heartbeat through the sheets and nearly tears sprung to her eyes. "You're okay now… he won't hurt you again," she heard him whisper to her softly. She then wrapped her arms around him, returning the embrace as she felt her body relax. Ford then groaned in pain and she pulled away from him.

"Are you okay, Ford?" she asked him worriedly.

Ford had put a hand to his head. "Eh… it's nothing. I still got a headache," he told her, although a different tone was there.

"Do you… not remember anything from last night?" she then asked him, worried that she had gotten him so drunk that he didn't remember their night.

"Bits and pieces… but not much."

An idea then popped into her head and she gave a sly smile. She sat up a little taller so that she could give him a kiss, something that he wasn't expecting. Her voice took on sultry tone, "Do you want me to give you a recap of last night?"

"Heh…!?" Ford managed to squeak out. It was hard for her not to smile at that, him looking confused.

Layla then gave him a deep kiss, her pouring everything she had into it. Ford had begun to kiss her back as she felt him place a hand in the same exact spot that her bruises were, causing her to break away for moment as she hissed in pain. His touch was softer and more bearable as she kissed him again deeply, putting her hands in his hair and gripping tightly.

She then broke from the kiss so that she could catch her breath, her heart racing a million miles an hour. As she panted to catch her breath she felt Ford kiss along her neck where her scar was, which she gasped in surprised as she did not expect that to come from him.

Layla then kissed him again, just for a moment before she asked with a heavy voice, "Are you ready for that recap?"

Ford then took of his glasses and put them off to the side, her able to see his brown eyes clearly with no glare from any light on his glasses. "Yeah…" he replied as he kissed her.

She loved him and that was all that mattered at that moment as she returned his kiss.

* * *

After an hour they had to abruptly leave the hotel they were in, the concierge that Layla had bribed the night before banging on their door loudly for them to leave before he got in trouble.

So the two humans got dressed, packed up their items, and left. They left the room quickly as they rushed down the stairs to leave, seeing other patrons beginning to leave as well with luggage. As they walked down the streets they were given strange looks, as if they were being recognized, but for the most part they were avoided like the plague.

Ford had put a hand to his head, him giving his head a small shake. When Layla sked that if he was okay, he told her that he still had a small headache and that he would manage. As they had walked Layla tripped over something and would've fallen if Ford hadn't grabbed her arm.

Layla saw that she had tripped over a leg that was sticking out of a box in an alleyway. She crouched down and glanced inside, immediately recognizing who it was.

"RICK!" Layla shouted at him.

"H-h-h-heh!?" Rick yelped from his box, him scrambling trying to get out. He stood up, but was extremely wobbly, as if he woke up drunk still. Rick then glared at Layla and Ford, but then the glare slightly softened in recognition. "O-o-o-oh, hey there Sci-Fi and L-l-l-l-Layla!" he greeted drunkenly.

"Where the hell did you even go yesterday?" Ford demanded, him gesturing to the drunk man.

"Eh? I-I-I-I thought I'd f-f-f-find my n-n-nuclear reactor faster by-" Rick began but then belched midsentence. He then continued like it never happened, "-myself. A-a-a-a-and I did!" Rick then went into his lab coat pocket and took out his portal gun, now newly fixed. "I-I got a stronger one… s-s-s-so maybe I can get home and a-a-a-adjust it more. It's a-a-a-a one way ticket though, a-a-a-a-and it's enough energy to s-s-s-send one p-p-person through without r-r-r-ripping their molecules apart."

In a way it was like Rick was hinting that he is going to leave and couldn't take Ford and Layla back to Earth's dimension. Layla understood that Rick mostly looked after himself, and if he had an opportunity to leave to get back to his family and ditch everyone, he would take it. Ford then gave a look to Layla, as if they were both thinking the same thing, and she gave him a slight nod. Ford then looked back to Rick and handed out a hand for a handshake. Rick looked surprised at this, but he then extended his hand and gives Ford a handshake.

"Good luck getting home, friend." Ford told Rick.

"Y-you too, Sci-Fi… I m-m-mean, Ford." Rick said back. He then waved to Layla. "Good l-l-l-luck to you too, Layla. M-m-m-m-make sure Sci-Fi doesn't get into _too_ much trouble." The drunk man than gave her wink.

Layla gave him a small wave. "Good luck, Rick. And tell your wife to kick your ass for me," she said to him. For everything that they went through together, he was still one of her first friends. She did wish him well in the long run.

Rick then used his portal gun and pointed it to the wall next him. A bright green portal then swirled around in a circular motion with energy. "I suggest you guys find a way out of this dimension… M-M-M-Magum will probably jump at this e-e-e-energy signature." He then gave a final wave before disappearing through his portal.

* * *

They ended up going to a more industrial dimension with stony gray buildings, skies, and dead vegetation.

Layla had managed to get them into a warehouse where it looked as though it had been closed for quite some time, them needing to get out of the rain that was like acid to their skin and clothing. They slept in shifts as they didn't feel like they were truly safe, Ford offering to take the first watch. She didn't want to sleep first but Ford insisted, so she curled up as close as she could to him and the fire.

She didn't know how long she was asleep, but she heard yelling that was being echoed towards her. Layla sat of from her little sleeping pile, her running her eyes as she blinked against the light of the fire. Her eyes darted around frantically when she realized that Ford wasn't there.

Panic gripped her heart as she got up from her makeshift bed and grabbed her gun form her side. She ran through the hallways, her trying to find the source of the noise. The last time this had happened Ford had been cornered by Magum…

As she ran she then heard the chilling voice of Magum, a voice so slippery like a snake that she paused for a moment.

 _"Because, Stanford, how about we make a deal? You want to destroy Bill Cipher just as much as I do… and we both have a common attraction to little Miss Layla Bartek."_

That statement sent a shiver down her spine. Was he trying to force Ford to make a deal with him? She thought of what kind of deal could possibly be in mind when she realized that Magum wanted to make Ford his next victim of possession.

 _"Become my new puppet, my new host, Stanford Pines, and together we can destroy Bill Cipher… together we can rule the multiverse."_

"No…" Ford's voice was small and hoarse, Layla had barely heard him. "Why… me…?"

 _"You and I aren't so different, Stanford. You want knowledge… and knowledge is power. Power is what makes the multiverse go round, and it needs a ruler. Sure… I could've used Dr. Bartek… or I could've used Rick… but_ you _Stanford, I see myself in you."_

"I'm _nothing_ like you!" Layla heard Ford growl in anger.

 _"Hmm? Oh, you're not? You pushed your own family away, not caring if they had lived or died. Sound familiar to me? You have a twin brother, yes? Well, so did I, and guess what happened to him? He burned at my hands because of him holding me back. What did you do to your twin brother? Cut him out of your life._

 _"Family is useless and pointless. You're better off as a puppet, and what Layla doesn't know won't hurt her, right?"_

Layla finally had enough as she felt the words rip from her throat, "WRONG YOU ASSHOLE!"

Magum was in his true form, a form that Layla still had nightmares about. It was something that she thought she would never see again if she could help it. But there he was, torturing someone she loved dearly. She felt her eyes hardened and her body so unnaturally calm as she aimed her gun at Magum and began to quickly pull the trigger.

"You are the biggest piece of shit in the multiverse!" Layla screamed furiously, her electric blue eyes hard as ice. "You caused a war, you causes your own race and others to die! You _killed_ your own family! You piece of shit…! You manipulated my father, you and Cipher! You two are so deprived of love from yourselves and your families that you just wanted the multiverse to _burn_! Well, I got news for you asshole, _I'm_ not going to let that happen!"

 _"Why you-"_

Ford then took that as an opportunity to shoot at Magum's legs with his own gun, causing the monstrosity to buckle. Layla then ran up to Ford and helped him up, and she grabbed his hand and began to run. The two ran through the corridors, trying to go through whatever doors they could find. There was only one place to go. Up.

 _Not again… why is it always up!? We don't have the device from Rick like before…! Damn it!_

 _"You think you can escape from me!?"_

The hall that Layla and Ford were in suddenly felt hot and red flames licked the walls, the boards on the windows burning to a crisp, the glass shattering all around them, causing the two to stop from the sudden heat. It felt as if the oxygen was being pulled from their lungs, causing them to collapse.

 _"I don't think you understand the situation here…"_ Magum then materialized in front of Ford and picked him up by his neck.

"Stanford!" Layla barely cried out, her face taking on a strange tint of blue. Just saying his name took whatever precious air in her lungs she had left, her vision beginning to spot.

 _"I'm giving you one final choice here, Stanford. Become my puppet and you and Layla will live. Decide not and you'll die and she will face a punishment worse than death."_

Layla knew what that meant, but she couldn't allow Ford to take the deal. If she had to make a deal personally with Magum in order to protect him, then so be it. She had dealt with Magum for years, even if he wasn't around she was still haunted by him in her nightmares and her very mind. What was a few more years so that the man she loved could live and be free? But… was she truly ready to make that sacrifice?

 _I rather die than let Magum take me again!_

Slowly, the brunette nodded his head. A sinister smile crosses Magum's features, making him look _more terrifying than the Devil_. Ford was then lowered to the ground and the flames subsided, the two humans gasping for air.

 _Don't do it… please don't!_

Magum raised a hand, it engulfed with red flames. _"Do we have a deal, Stanford Pines?"_

Ford went to raise his hand as well, ready to take the deal. Layla's body began to tremble as hot tears stung her eyes. There was no way that she could allow it. Magum was nothing but a monster and if he took control of Ford's body he would abuse it to take on Cipher and take over the multiverse.

Time was ticking, and she was running out of it. She couldn't allow him to, she _wouldn't_ allow him to do it. Layla had to do something in order to buy Ford time for him to escape. She wouldn't allow herself to be captured by Magum… she felt as if she had no other choice. She knew what she had to do.

"Stanford…" Layla choked out. He looked at her, his hand hovering toward Magum's. "I need you to know that I love you… okay?" she said to him, the tears falling freely as her body trembled. All she wanted to do was run to him and hug him close, never to let him go. But, sadly, she had a dark feeling that she may never have that opportunity again.

"Layla…?" Ford questioned, him not understanding what she was trying to say.

"I need you to get away. I love you, Stanford… and good luck…"

"Wait… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Layla had then gotten up from her position and ran as fast as she could towards the demon. She then tackled Magum away from Ford, the two tripping over the broken window. Layla had taken her gun and was shooting Magum repeated into his skull, his wounds becoming more traumatic as there was barely any time for regeneration. She didn't care that she was falling so fast, her hair whipping upwards. All she was wanted was to shoot Magum over and over for all the years he had tortured her. All she wanted was him to suffer a pain like she had gone through.

 _"_ _Why you little bitch!"_ Magum roared at her as they got closer to the ground. _"You think this little stunt is going to stop me…? Well… now I have a new plan…"_

Layla had felt her vision go black from as they were falling, her heart beating so fast that she could barely stand it, it feeling as though it was going to explode. At least when she died it would be in the air and not her feeling her body splat over the ground.

 _"_ _Don't worry… the plan involves you…"_

Layla felt her body give out as her eyes fluttered shut.

* * *

Darkness surrounded her, a thick inky world around her as she felt like she could breathe.

Random spots of color filled the darkness, her hearing Ford's voice. She heard her mother's voice. She even heard the gentleness of her father's voice before he had gone completely insane.

 _Is this what death is…? Just a black void with wisps of memories?_

"…la!" a distant voice called out.

 _What was that…?_

"Layla!" it was a female voice, and it sounded awfully familiar.

Layla then gasped for air, the darkness suddenly lifting as she opened her eyes against a bright white light. Her body felt extremely heavy but she managed to sit up with a groan and look around frantically of where she was at.

She was sitting in a soft white bed, and she looked over to her right arms and saw that needles and tubes were sticking out of her skin. Next to her there was a small machine that beeped lightly, messuring her heartrate, an IV bag dripping into her tube.

 _Was… all of that a dream…? Was I just crazy this entire time…?_

The thought of everything being nothing but a crazy dream made her eyes sting. Did that mean that Magum didn't exist, her torture a figment of her imagination? But that meant that Ford didn't exist either, the thought of that making her heart fall into the pit of her stomach.

"Oh, my goodness! Layla you're awake!" Layla then looked up to see a familiar head of pink hair and neon green eyes.

"M-Mari!?" Layla gasped, her seeing her old friend. She then looked over and saw a familiar blonde. "Kari!" They were both there with her! Surly it wasn't a dream then! But then again, she could live without the Magum part…

"Oh, Layla! You had us so worried!" Mari cried out as she bent down and wrapped her arms around Layla's torso. "When Magum brought you back here I thought you were dead!"

Layla's heart skipped a beat. "Magum…? Brought me here…?" she barely whispered. "Where's Ford!?" she then demanded.

"Ford…?" Kari echoed. "Are you talking about that human man you were with?"

"YES!" Layla cried out desperately. _Please… he had to have gotten away!_

Mari gave a shake of her head. "I'm sorry, sweetie, we don't know where he is. All we know is that Magum is looking for him. So is Bill Cipher."

A sigh of relief escaped her as she put a hand to her pulsing heart. Even if he wasn't with her, she was happy that he was safe away from Magum and Bill. "Good," she rasped as she attempted to throw the blankets off of herself. However, a gripping nausea engulfed her and she instinctively went to her right side, her barely noticing that there was already a container filled with bile, as she emptied stomach acid into the container. The acid stung her throat, her feeling that her hair was being held back by one of the sisters.

"Ah… so she still has it this late…?" Mari questioned her sister, Layla not understanding.

"It could be because she woke up and hasn't had proper solid food in about five months." Kari replied.

 _Five months…!?_

"What… are… you two talking about?" Layla asked between heaves. She then put a hand onto her stomach, her heart practically skipping a beat when she felt something hard and round underneath her hand. She glanced down, seeing that her once flat stomach was large and swollen.

"Ah, so she is awake then?" the slippery voice of Magum whispered. "You two leave so that I may speak to her privately."

"Yes, Master Magum," the sisters replied in monotone as they hastily left the room, Mari managing to give a glance at Layla with a sad smile as she shut the door.

Magum walked over to Layla in the bed, but she barely noticed that he was there. Her mind was too wrapped up form what she felt underneath her hand. There was a slight movement, a kick, against her hand. Magum then placed his own hand on the other side of her stomach, her instictely swatting his hand away.

"So, you found out about your little 'ailment'," Magum purred as he took a step back. "Now… I think I can use this to my advantage…"

"GO TO HELL!" Layla growled through clenched teeth.

Magum gave a smirk. "Oh… I see. You know… with a flick of my wrist I can just ki-"

"NO!" Her throat was raw as she screamed that word. She felt another kick underneath her hand, a little stronger than before. "Please… no… I'll make a deal with you…"

Magum's trademark wolf-like smile spread across his face as if he was told the best news of his life. "Now, _that's_ what I like to hear!" He then crouched over her, his face uncomfortably close to hers. "What deal do you have in mind?"

"You can do whatever you want to me," Layla began, her voice level and calm as she looked Magum directly in his soulless white eyes. "But, you _do not harm my and Ford's child._ "

Magum's expression darkened at the mention of Ford's name. "I'll agree to those terms, but I have something to add," Magum told her. Layla waited a moment as she saw Magum pace around her bed. "My added term is that you do not mention to the child about Stanford Pines at all. You don't tell it about anything, even if it begs." He then held out a hand, a brilliant red flame surrounding his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Layla looked at his hand, the flames licking across his hand and up his arm. The light of the fire made Magum's stoic features look horrifying, a true face of a demon. Hesitantly, Layla lifted her free hand towards his.

"You do not harm my child and I will not tell it about Ford." Layla confirmed. Her hand then grasped his, the fire not feeling warm in the slightest. "We have a deal."

"Deal."

Magum then left her side and went to the door, he called for Mari and Kari and they suddenly appeared with a curtsy. "I'll leave these two to be your and the child's caretakers," he explained as he left the room while the door slammed behind him.

Mari went to Layla's side immediately, already checking her body for any type of wound. "He didn't hurt you in your state, did he?" Mari asked worriedly.

"No," Layla assured. "Hurting me while pregnant would hurt the baby… it is part of the deal that he cannot harm it."

Kari looked uneasy as she tucked a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. "Making a deal with Magum though… you do realize that you basically sold your soul to him, right…?"

"I know what happened to Sari when she was with him…" Layla pointed out, the sisters flinching as they recalled their late triplet sister. "I know what I'm doing. Ford had helped me, and if this distraction is what is going to protect him from Magum, it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make."

Kari then slammed down a glass that she had filled with water, the water slashing over the sides. "Do you understand what you just said and did!? You're going to have your child grow up in this hellhole!?"

Layla flinched at that statement as she felt another kick. "I know… but… I owe it to Ford. I have a feeling that one day they will meet…" The picture from Magum's journal popped into her mind, the wheel with its symbols. The acorn was the seed of an oak tree, which meant her and her child were part of the prophecy. Ford was obviously the six-fingered hand with his polydactyl, which meant he was part of the wheel as well, including Bill's.

 _Don't worry, little one… I'll protect you, and one day you'll meet your father._

 _To be continued in_ "Magum's Rising"…

* * *

 **Thank you for reading as always!**

 **Stay tuned for the next story!**

~Skye Hendersen~


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